Why Do We Love Music?
Music is an extremely popular form of entertainment for many people around the world today, with hundreds of genres and such a huge amount of variety within it, Almost everyone can find music that they like. Music is even thought as an escape for some people, especially those who are under stress, mentally struggling, or just overall unhappy. Music can improve someone’s mood, get them excited and motivated, or just make them calm and relaxed. Music can also have a strong emotional connection with people and feel important to them, if, for example, they have experienced something in their lives which it reminds them of. So, the question is, why do we love music so much?
Listening to music can really uplift our mood, as it releases a chemical in our brains called dopamine, which improves our mood and reduces our anxiety, sometimes even triggers the same biological and psychological responses associated with other activities which give us pleasure, such as food and money. Music can affect us in different ways; happy and upbeat music causes our brain to produce chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins, evoking feelings of joy.
Calm, quiet music soothes us and relaxes our minds and bodies. Music has also been shown to reduce pain, and even have positive effects on symptoms of stroke and dementia. Its benefits may even help to retrieve old memories and improve general behavior of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Music provides a total brain workout, and research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, sleep quality, alertness, and memory. Fun fact: listening to music during a test can improve performance by 40 percent!
In conclusion, creating and listening to music makes us feel good and connect with others, making it a highly important part of many people’s lives today.
