Have you ever watched a movie without its soundtrack? It seems barren of emotion and suspense. This is because people have an involuntary emotional response to music. Music can take the deeply depressed and elate them immediately.

Why?

Musical patterns have been shown to be directly tied to dopamine production. Dopamine is one of the main neurotransmitters used in our brain to provide reward for positive behavior. The theory is that this reward system developed to give us the incentive to act in ways that will sustain our life. This started with necessities like food and water, but developed further to include social and emotional well being as well, including things like music. Unlike the benefits of eating or hydrating, the benefits we derive from music are not directly tangible. This has lead to scientists studying how we process and enjoy music.

Scientists think that when you listen to a piece of music, your brain creates a memory template from the experience you had associated with it. From this template, the brain makes a prediction about how you will enjoy the next musical experience. These templates and predictions make a contribution to how you enjoy music in the present moment. If you enjoy it more than your templates predict, then your brain fires a dopaminergic response.

So when the soundtrack swells and gives you goosebumps, that’s the composer’s way of getting directly at your brain’s hard-wired reward system.

Sources/Inspiration:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/11/why-does-music-feel-so-good/

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/why-music-makes-our-brain-sing.html