Zach Goldman
Dr. Holt
English 12
24 April 2020
How Does Music Affect Emotions?
Emotions are one of the most necessary and valuable things in our lives. They are what make humans want to live, die, love, hate, and much more. So what is it that triggers emotions? Any one of a human's various senses can trigger a broad variety of feelings out of them. For example, seeing a picture of a recently passed loved one could make you feel very dejected. The sense that we are going to focus on is hearing; more specifically music and how it strongly affects and triggers emotions.
Before being able to fully answer this, a strong knowledge of what emotions are and how they work is a necessity. Emotions are the flow of an experience of different feelings that travel through a being's brain. These can be triggered by two different categories; internal and external. An internal trigger would be if you had an exciting childhood memory that you just remembered that brought you joy. An example of an external trigger would be if someone was to punch your friend in their face and your reaction was to feel anger. The six basic emotions, that are the base for all others, are happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust. This could be compared to the color wheel. You start with the primary colors red, yellow, and blue, but then they combine to make the secondary colors green, orange, and purple, and so on for the tertiary colors. For an example, you start with surprise and under that you can feel astonishment, amazement, distraction, etc. Emotions are something that is universal across all humans. This does not necessarily mean that the way that people handle their emotions is also universal. Certain people are more susceptible to their feelings which is why certain people have anger issues, depression, anxiety, etc. There are a lot of different emotions that can be very hard to cope with, which is where music can come into play. Music can be used for therapy in some cases because it can overpower other emotions that people struggle with. l l l l l l l l l
A large factor in music having such a strong impact on emotions is the powerful connection that humans have with music without even realizing that connection is there. Different things happen when listening to music in a lot of different parts of the human brain. First of all, it was recently discovered that when somebody is listening to music, dopamine is produced in a couple different parts of the brain: the dorsal and ventral striatum. If you take somebody who has never played an instrument, and play a song with violin, the mirror neurons light up the same part of the brain that is associated with playing that instrument. Music can also change the way that we perceive some things. For example, if you see someone with a neutral face, and you are listening to a happy song, then that face will start to appear more happy. This goes the opposite way too. If you are listening to a very sad song, then that neutral face will appear to be sad. Some of the big effects that music has on the mental state of humans are that it can help to fight depression, improves learning abilities, relieves anxiety, and boosts confidence. The effects music has on the brain are it improves memory, improves problem solving skills, and can make learning easier.
For depression, soothing music can be a key factor in helping get out of the depressed state. When the brain has a lack of serotonin, it can cause people to have a depressed state of mind. While music is not the number one solution to this, the soothing notes help to increase the serotonin levels in the brain.A great example for work related music is listening to quiet and soft music which has shown to help improve efficiency. This works because first of all, listening to calm/pleasant music while working on something that is very difficult can calm you down making the task seem a little easier. Secondly music is able to have strong impacts on motivation. This is why a lot of people like to listen to fast paced and exciting music when they exercise because it helps to motivate them to run that extra half mile and not walk, or to get those last two reps up when benching. Music will help to relieve anxiety too. Anxiety is just the fear of something that the outcome is not certain of. For example, a lot of people get anxious when they have a big test coming up. This can cause them to not sleep as well which will just cause more anxiety. Music is really helpful because not only can it help to calm someone down while they are having a small panic attack, but it also can help them sleep to reduce anxiety. Another thing music does is it can boost someone’s confidence. Music can have a very strong positive effect in helping somebody fight to break through a mental block that they are having. It helps people to become more motivated, as mentioned above, and excited which results in their increase in confidence.
In relation to the brain, music has tons of effects too. Music can help to increase concentration levels and also improve memory. It is used sometimes for medical purposes on patients that have Alzheimers to help them with their memory. There is research that has shown that the silence that occurs in between some music notes causes certain cells in the brain to be triggered that are responsible for memory. Especially in classical music, the flute and other woodwind instruments are the most effective for concentration improvement. When someone hears music, the brain tries to follow along, which increases the concentration levels. When somebody learns a musical instrument, that also helps to improve concentration skills.
Music affects moods in different ways and can also aim to target different groups of people. For example if you walk into a skateboard shop, chances are they are going to be playing some sort of punk rock music. Lots of stores play music to target the people that their products target and to also enhance the customers mood. In order for music to have a good effect on people, it needs to have sound waves that go along with the body’s internal rhythm. Volume is another key component in music. If ll you walk into a store and they are blasting music to where you can’t hear yourself think, you are less likely to spend more time in that store than if the music was at a target volume.
Music can also have some negative effects too. If music is played too loud, it sometimes can disturb the symmetry between the two halves of the brain. It can also disturb your mental state of mind. Some studies have shown that if infants are often exposed to music at high volumes, then they are more likely to have learning disabilities and problems with their behavior in the future. Irregular beats and odd frequencies in music might sound cool to some people, but it has been shown that these irregular beats can be harmful to the body and the mind. Disharmony within music has also been proven to reduce the levels that we retain information and can also lead to anger issues.
As humans music is a part of our everyday lives much more than we realize. It also has a much greater effect on the mind and body than what it seems to on the surface. We have the choice to pick what music we listen to, that can either help our lives in ways such as studying, or it can harm your mental state long term, which is why music is a much more important aspect in humans lives than realized by most people.
Dr. Holt
English 12
24 April 2020
How Does Music Affect Emotions?
Emotions are one of the most necessary and valuable things in our lives. They are what make humans want to live, die, love, hate, and much more. So what is it that triggers emotions? Any one of a human's various senses can trigger a broad variety of feelings out of them. For example, seeing a picture of a recently passed loved one could make you feel very dejected. The sense that we are going to focus on is hearing; more specifically music and how it strongly affects and triggers emotions.
Before being able to fully answer this, a strong knowledge of what emotions are and how they work is a necessity. Emotions are the flow of an experience of different feelings that travel through a being's brain. These can be triggered by two different categories; internal and external. An internal trigger would be if you had an exciting childhood memory that you just remembered that brought you joy. An example of an external trigger would be if someone was to punch your friend in their face and your reaction was to feel anger. The six basic emotions, that are the base for all others, are happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust. This could be compared to the color wheel. You start with the primary colors red, yellow, and blue, but then they combine to make the secondary colors green, orange, and purple, and so on for the tertiary colors. For an example, you start with surprise and under that you can feel astonishment, amazement, distraction, etc. Emotions are something that is universal across all humans. This does not necessarily mean that the way that people handle their emotions is also universal. Certain people are more susceptible to their feelings which is why certain people have anger issues, depression, anxiety, etc. There are a lot of different emotions that can be very hard to cope with, which is where music can come into play. Music can be used for therapy in some cases because it can overpower other emotions that people struggle with. l l l l l l l l l
A large factor in music having such a strong impact on emotions is the powerful connection that humans have with music without even realizing that connection is there. Different things happen when listening to music in a lot of different parts of the human brain. First of all, it was recently discovered that when somebody is listening to music, dopamine is produced in a couple different parts of the brain: the dorsal and ventral striatum. If you take somebody who has never played an instrument, and play a song with violin, the mirror neurons light up the same part of the brain that is associated with playing that instrument. Music can also change the way that we perceive some things. For example, if you see someone with a neutral face, and you are listening to a happy song, then that face will start to appear more happy. This goes the opposite way too. If you are listening to a very sad song, then that neutral face will appear to be sad. Some of the big effects that music has on the mental state of humans are that it can help to fight depression, improves learning abilities, relieves anxiety, and boosts confidence. The effects music has on the brain are it improves memory, improves problem solving skills, and can make learning easier.
For depression, soothing music can be a key factor in helping get out of the depressed state. When the brain has a lack of serotonin, it can cause people to have a depressed state of mind. While music is not the number one solution to this, the soothing notes help to increase the serotonin levels in the brain.A great example for work related music is listening to quiet and soft music which has shown to help improve efficiency. This works because first of all, listening to calm/pleasant music while working on something that is very difficult can calm you down making the task seem a little easier. Secondly music is able to have strong impacts on motivation. This is why a lot of people like to listen to fast paced and exciting music when they exercise because it helps to motivate them to run that extra half mile and not walk, or to get those last two reps up when benching. Music will help to relieve anxiety too. Anxiety is just the fear of something that the outcome is not certain of. For example, a lot of people get anxious when they have a big test coming up. This can cause them to not sleep as well which will just cause more anxiety. Music is really helpful because not only can it help to calm someone down while they are having a small panic attack, but it also can help them sleep to reduce anxiety. Another thing music does is it can boost someone’s confidence. Music can have a very strong positive effect in helping somebody fight to break through a mental block that they are having. It helps people to become more motivated, as mentioned above, and excited which results in their increase in confidence.
In relation to the brain, music has tons of effects too. Music can help to increase concentration levels and also improve memory. It is used sometimes for medical purposes on patients that have Alzheimers to help them with their memory. There is research that has shown that the silence that occurs in between some music notes causes certain cells in the brain to be triggered that are responsible for memory. Especially in classical music, the flute and other woodwind instruments are the most effective for concentration improvement. When someone hears music, the brain tries to follow along, which increases the concentration levels. When somebody learns a musical instrument, that also helps to improve concentration skills.
Music affects moods in different ways and can also aim to target different groups of people. For example if you walk into a skateboard shop, chances are they are going to be playing some sort of punk rock music. Lots of stores play music to target the people that their products target and to also enhance the customers mood. In order for music to have a good effect on people, it needs to have sound waves that go along with the body’s internal rhythm. Volume is another key component in music. If ll you walk into a store and they are blasting music to where you can’t hear yourself think, you are less likely to spend more time in that store than if the music was at a target volume.
Music can also have some negative effects too. If music is played too loud, it sometimes can disturb the symmetry between the two halves of the brain. It can also disturb your mental state of mind. Some studies have shown that if infants are often exposed to music at high volumes, then they are more likely to have learning disabilities and problems with their behavior in the future. Irregular beats and odd frequencies in music might sound cool to some people, but it has been shown that these irregular beats can be harmful to the body and the mind. Disharmony within music has also been proven to reduce the levels that we retain information and can also lead to anger issues.
As humans music is a part of our everyday lives much more than we realize. It also has a much greater effect on the mind and body than what it seems to on the surface. We have the choice to pick what music we listen to, that can either help our lives in ways such as studying, or it can harm your mental state long term, which is why music is a much more important aspect in humans lives than realized by most people.