Bob Marley said it best:
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain
One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain
So hit me with music
Hit me with music now
Hit me with music
Hit me with music now
That’s the verse of “Trenchtown Rock,” just one of a multitude of songs that send shivers down my spine.
Whether it’s on Spotify while commuting or on vinyl at home, I listen to music intently 3-5 hours a day. Music is my TV. It’s not just on in the background; I give it my full, undivided attention.
So when this study from McGill University in Montreal came to my attention, I wasn’t astonished.
I knew there was a reason why I can feel the music. Why tiny little flourishes of notes or guitar riffs or drumbeats can make my entire body tingle instantly. Why lyrics speak to me like the Bible and the sound of a needle dropping on a record fills me with anticipation
“These findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry in the brain,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Robert Zatorre, neuroscientist at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, said in a press release. “To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that an abstract reward such as music can lead to dopamine release.”
When it’s released in the brain, dopamine gives us a feeling of euphoria, a jolt of pleasure.
For as long as I can remember, music has given me chills. My first memory is of my sister and I dancing around the living room to Michael Jackson’s Thriller in 1984, when I was four years old. I remember getting chills then. It’s like a rush of blood to the head.
If given a choice between music and drugs, I’d choose music. And I did choose music when I quit drinking and drugs nearly four years ago. In February 2012, I was a disheveled disaster of a person. I lived for alcohol. Beer was the entrée, and crack-cocaine was the dessert. Music wasn’t really a significant part of my life in those days.
But now I’ve realized that music is better than sex. It’s better than drugs. And it’s better than alcohol. It’s a natural high. And it can also be used as therapy.
“Music is arguably one of the most potent rewards, existing in all cultures as far back as history dates, and currently reported to be among the most pleasurable stimuli by most individuals,” the McGill study says.
The oldest musical instruments, found in a cave in Germany, date back 42,000 years, according to the study. The flutes are made out of vulture bones or mammoth ivory. The human voice is obviously even older. Music has been thriving throughout human history. It’s intense.
To discover that music can cause a release of dopamine, a team of researchers called upon eight music aficionados who were invited to bring in music that gives them euphoric chills.
In addition to classical masters such as Beethoven, Dvorak, Debussy, and Vivaldi, music used in the study included Led Zeppelin and indie acts such as Digitalism, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Explosions in the Sky.
Subjects listened to their musical picks for 15 minutes before scientists injected them with a radioactive substance that clings to dopamine receptors. Then participants received PET and fMRI brain scans, which showed them that dopamine release is greater for nirvanic versus neutral music.
In another study, Zatorre’s co-author, Valorie N. Salimpoor, concluded that music can cause changes in heart and breathing rate, temperature, pulse, and emotional stimulation.
I started collecting vinyl about two years ago and have since amassed a total of 98 record albums. That’s roughly 4,000 hours of music. And if I buy 50 albums a year for the rest of my lifetime, assuming I live to be 90, that will be approximately 22,000 hours of music. There’s a reason why people in audiophile circles refer to vinyl as “black crack.” It’s addictive.
I’m glad I’m addicted. A music addiction is cheaper than alcohol. And not only that, it’s healthy, invigorating, fun, and liberating.
I’m a proud music addict. And I get my fix every day. And it’s healthy.
So Mr. Marley, hit me with music. Hit me with music now. BAM! Hit me again and again and again.
