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Music: Clinical and Emotional Implications

Rachel Dennen
Introduction
Previous Studies
Music has existed in cultures from the beginning of time
and scientists have tried to determine why sounds with no
inherent reward value seem to be so enjoyable to people. Many
neuroscience studies have focused on the effects that music can
have on the brain (Conard, Malina & Mnzel , 2009). Studies
have been conducted to find what areas of the brain are involved
when listening to music (Prigg, 2014). Results show that music
and language are both recognized in the left temporal lobe
again, according to Prigg (2014). For example in a study done by
Blood and Zatorre, (2001), they tested if the auditory cortices
were involved when listening to music. Additionally a study done
by Koelsch, (2010), tried to figure out if the emotion regions and
reward-related mesolimbic circuits were involved when listening
to music.
Musical characteristics have been studied and they have
different effects on the emotional response generated. For
example, a study done that tested the different tempos and
melodies and how they evoked a different emotional response
was done by Dalla, Peretz, Rousseau, & Gosselin (2001).
Furthermore, there has been research conducted on the
response of dopamine that is generated with music (Salimpoor,
Benovay, Larcher, Dagher, & Zattore, 2011). Dopamine is the
neurotransmitter that is associated with pleasure and motivation
in the brain, it is also an essential signaling molecule in the brain
(Angier). A study was specifically done to test the role that
dopamine plays to evoke certain emotion response. This study
found that intense pleasure in response to music can lead to
dopamine release in the striatal system (Salimpoor, Benovay,
Larcher, Dagher, & Zattore, 2011).Research shows that most
people agree that music is an especially pleasurable stimulus
which then affects several emotional states. Also, it has been
shown that music can effectively elicit a high level of pleasure in
humans (Sloboda & Juslin, 2001, Krumhansl, 1997).
In other areas of research music has been seen to impact
people with mental disorders. Music therapy is defined as the

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clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to

accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship
by a professional who has completed an approved music therapy
program (Definition and Quotes about Music Therapy). Music
therapy has been known to provide a calming effect on its clients
according to some studies, but it also can create an excited
emotional feeling. Music therapy has been successful in treating
mental disorders, for example it has been shown that music
therapy has helped people deal with their schizophrenia
symptoms (Gold, 2007).
Some music studies controlled for the familiarity of stimuli,
or pleasantness ratings, and other factors on musical preferences
to rate how much it influenced the participants emotions
(Peretz, Gaudreau, and Bonnel, 1998). While this one study
decided to focus on songs that were very familiar to the average
human and how the music affected the participants emotions
and what emotional response was evoked (Pereira, Teixeria,
Figueireido, Xavier, Castro, and Brattico, 2011).
None of the previous studies have used unfamiliar music to
see how this affects our biological responses.The study
conducted by Salimpoor, van den Bosch, Kovacevic, McIntosh,
Dagher & Zattore investigated neural processes reaction to
unfamiliar music and the reward value that was achieved (2013).
Methodology
There were 33 participants in the experiment that were
seen as a homogenous group of individuals in terms of musical
preferences. The mean age for this study was 25 but it ranged
from 18-50. The first round of the experiment was to ask the
participants which type of musical genre was their favorite. After
this, participants listened to music that was recommended by the
music recommendation software to reflect individual preferences.
Music was listened to through headphones for seventy 30-second
music excerpts over two sessions. During the break participants
were asked to complete questionnaires about their musical
preferences, training, listening habits. This first session tested
behavior. Individuals were asked if they would purchase the
music with their own money, which indicated that they wanted to
hear it again.
The second session consisted of 19 participants
undergoing an fMRI scan listened to 60 musical excerpts and
provided bids on how much they would be willing to spend on

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each item. In this study, there was a control for familiarity by

excluding all stimuli that participants indicated was familiar with
them because the main goal was to examine neural responses to
unfamiliar music.
Some limitations of this method was that the research was
not generalizable since it had such a small sample. Also, it was
self-report, which could lead to bias. Finally, since they did so
many tests with only one break the participants could have
become bored with the test and could have said what the
researcher wanted to hear so the results could be incorrect,
which is the concept known as social desirability. Also, they did
not use multiple types of music, they only used musical types
that matched the music recommendation tool and different
music types can lead to different emotions. For example, some
music can lead to sadness and others can lead to happiness.
Also, since they only had a small sample that had one taste in
music it is not generalizable to the public.
Main Findings
The main findings show that the degree of activity in the
mesolimbic striatal regions, especially the nucleus accumbens,
during music listening was the best predictor of the amount
listeners were willing to spend on previously unheard music in an
auction paradigm (216). Also, the results showed that activity
levels increased of the auditory cortices, amygdala, and
ventromedial prefrontal regions during listening conditions that
needed valuation, but did not predict reward value. Reward value
was predicted by increasing functional connectivity of those
regions with the nucleus accumbens when the reward value got
higher. This means that reward happens because of the
relationship between mesolimbic reward circuitry and cortical
networks, which are both involved in perceptual analysis and
valuation. Mainly, their data would support their hypotheses
because it showed that with unfamiliarity music, the dopamine
regions were still activated.
Background and Significance
The questions that I addressed in this paper were:
1. Can listening to music be compared to drugs as evaluating the
amount of dopamine released when listening to music that one
may enjoy?
2. Does music reduce stress, because dopamine is released while
listening to music?

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3. Does this mean that the process of enjoying new music is

more emotive than analytical?
These questions were given to us by Professor Wu since I was in
the group of the emotional and clinical implications of music. For
the first question, it has often been stated that dopamine is a
chemical that is activated when consuming drugs like cocaine.
The research article specifically stated that dopamine reduces
stress, and if music releases dopamine then wouldnt it reduce
stress since dopamine is released? Finally, music has been
known to produce many emotions and since it produces many
emotions it may be more emotive than analytical.
Methods or Alternative Explanations
For question 1, I would look at the effects of alcohol and
music on the human brain. In doing this, I would need to recruit
people from different ethnic backgrounds and divide those
people into different groups.. One would be the experimental
group, so this group would be given alcohol and be able to get
intoxicated, while the control group would only be allowed to o
listen to music. The participants would be allowed to drink
alcohol for 30 minutes. After the experiment, the participants
would be given a questionnaire asking them how much pleasure
they derived from drinking alcohol, and how much they liked the
alcohol, and some demographic questions.. The participants in
the control group would listen to music for 30 seconds for 10
times and take a ten minute break then listen to the music for
another 30 seconds for 10 times. In the break, they would
complete a questionnaire that would ask them how much they
liked the music, how much pleasure was derived from this music,
and some demographic questions. Data would be collected and
the results would show if alcohol or music had a more significant
effect on the dopamine response in the participants.
For the second question, you could possibly test college
students during midterm season. You could again, split it into two
groups with one listening to music while studying, and the other
not listening to music. Each day you would ask each group
questions about their stress levels. The data would then be
collected to see if there is a correlation between stress and
music.
For the third question, you could use several tests of
different music styles, for example, one very sad song, one
happy song, and one calming song. You could observe the

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participants and see by their body language and facial

expressions if they experienced emotion. Finally, they would also
have to write their emotions felt during each of the three songs
or if they did not experience any emotions. Finally they would
have to rate if this music made them more emotional or if it
made them focus on the analytical points of music.
Rationale
My rationale for the methods would be that each of these
studies seem very fair, and unbiased. All of these experiments
are ethical and each participant will be able to drop out at any
time. They have independent and dependent variables. Also
each of the studies or experiments has no conflict of interest and
has a control group.
Conclusion
These ideas could bring light to the clinical and emotional
implications of music. Music has been known to have similar
effects as drugs, which can cause stress to be reduced, and it
also produces certain emotion. Future studies could focus on a
more generalized sample instead of college students because
those are not representative of the public. Future studies could
also see how drugs interact with music and which brain regions
are affected by drug usage. Finally, future studies could look at
different types of music and how it brings out different emotions
in the participants.
References
N. J. Conard, M. Malina, S. C. Mnzel, Nature 460, 737
(2009).