Think of your favourite piece of music. Do you get shivers when the music swells or the chorus kicks in? Or are the opening few bars enough to make you feel tingly?
Despite having no obvious survival value, listening to music can be a highly rewarding activity. It’s one of the most pleasurable activities with which people engage.
But in a study published today in Current Biology, Spanish and Canadian researchers report on a group of “music anhedonics” – literally, those who do not enjoy music.
This is an intriguing phenomenon, and we presume very rare.
Importantly, these people are not “amusic” – an affliction that often results from acquired or congenital damage to parts of the brain required to perceive or interpret music. In this study, the “music anhedonics” perceive music in the same way as the rest of the population.
Nor are they people who generally don’t enjoy pleasure – they are not depressed, nor highly inhibited, and they are just as sensitive as other people to other types of non-musical rewards (such as food, money, sex, exercise and drugs).
They simply don’t experience chills or similar responses to pleasurable music in the way that other people do. They’re just not that into music.
I’ve got chills – they’re multiplying
When we listen to pleasurable music, the “pleasure chemical” dopamine is released in the striatum, a key part of the brain’s reward system.
Importantly, music activates the striatum just like other rewarding stimuli, such as food and sex. During anticipation of the peak – or “hotspot” as music psychologist John Sloboda calls it – in the music, dopamine is released in the dorsal (or upper) striatum.
During the peak, when we experience chills and other signs that our body’s autonomic nervous system – responsible for regulating involuntary body functions – is being aroused, dopamine is released in the nearby ventral striatum.
So what’s going on in the brains of music anhedonics?
The authors offer a neurobiological explanation. While many types of pleasurable stimuli activate the same broad reward circuit in the brain, there are some differences depending on the type of stimulus. It is possible that the pattern of brain regions specifically activated by music pleasure, including the connection from auditory regions which perceive music to the reward centres, are slightly different in these individuals than in other people.
This isn’t unusual as we know that there can be enormous differences in how rewarding (and potentially addictive) other rewards such as food, sex, money and drugs can be to different individuals, but it is rare to get no pleasurable response to these rewards. Is the story more complex then?
Bittersweet symphony
Music is a complex phenomenon – it affects us in multiple ways, and is used for many purposes. While pleasure is a popular reason for music listening, we are also drawn to music for other reasons. Sometimes the music isn’t pleasant at all.
Our attraction, our need, and sometimes perhaps dependence on sad, angry or even frightening music flies in the face of evolutionary theory – why seek out something emotionally negative?
Insight into our uses of music is however being achieved via music psychology – a rapidly expanding field which draws on research across numerous domains including cognitive neuroscience, social psychology and affective computing (the science of human-computer interaction where the device can detect and respond to its user’s emotions).
In a study involving more than 1,000 people, Swedish music psychologist Alf Gabrielsson showed that only a little over half of strong experiences with music involve positive emotions.
Many involved “mixed emotions” (think nostalgic or bittersweet love songs), and about one in ten involve negative emotions.
‘Non-positive’ can be good
We listen to music that makes us feel like this for many reasons. We can use it to help express how we’re feeling – sometimes this might make the problem worse (such as when we use music to ruminate), but other times it helps to give voice to an emotion we otherwise could not communicate.
As a result, we may feel more emotionally aware or stable afterwards.
We also use music to solve problems, to look at our situation in a different light, to energise us or to relax us, and often to avoid or distract us – all well-known strategies for managing or regulating emotions.
Music can also help us connect to others. Even if we don’t get a buzz from the music normally, when we listen with others, the enhanced social connectivity can be highly satisfying.
A 2012 study showed that individuals who listened to music with close friends or their partners showed significantly stronger autonomic responses than those who listened alone.
We might better empathise with the emotional or mental states of others, and at times, music feels like a “virtual friend”, providing solace and comfort when needed, and perhaps even stimulating release of the stress reducing and affiliation hormone oxytocin.
All these uses of music can be beneficial for our “eudaimonic well-being”; in other words, for enhancing our engagement and purpose in life, rather than just our pleasure.
They also involve a distributed set of connected brain regions other than just the reward circuit. This means that these positive effects of music may be preserved even when the typical pleasure response is not experienced.
Another feature of music that distinguishes it from many other rewarding stimuli is that it is an artform. And as an artform, it can be appreciated aesthetically, in an intellectual or analytical – rather than emotional – manner.
We can listen to a piece oozing with tragedy such as Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor or Trent Reznor’s Hurt –listen below – but feel awe and beauty in the sophisticated score of the composer and perfect execution of the performers. This might explain why some of the music anhedonics in this study still reported feeling some pleasure to music, even when their bodies weren’t along for the ride.
Reward circuitry is also activated by aesthetically beautiful stimuli, but other frontal brain regions involved in aesthetic judgment are also activated. It may be possible then for music anhedonics to still appreciate and enjoy music, even if their reward brain circuitry differs a little from those of us who can experience intense physical responses to music.
And of course, music anhedonics might still find music a useful way to express or regulate their own emotions, and to connect to others. Or are music anhedonics also music “aneudaimonics”?
In fact, we know so little about this fascinating, previously “hidden” phenomenon that this study opens the door for so many more studies – which is rewarding all of itself.
As someone deeply immersed in the intricate world of neuroscience and psychology, particularly the captivating intersection of music and the brain, I find the study presented in this article to be both riveting and illuminating. My extensive background in this field allows me to navigate the nuances and complexities of the research, shedding light on the profound implications it holds for our understanding of the human experience with music.
The concept of "music anhedonics" is indeed a fascinating anomaly. Contrary to individuals with amusia, who face challenges in perceiving or interpreting music due to brain damage, music anhedonics share the same perceptual abilities as the general population. This intriguing phenomenon suggests that the pleasure derived from music is not a universal experience, challenging our assumptions about the inherent joy music brings.
The article delves into the neurobiological underpinnings of this phenomenon, elucidating the role of dopamine release in the striatum, a crucial component of the brain's reward system, during the anticipation and peak moments of pleasurable music. The suggestion that the brain regions activated by music pleasure may differ in music anhedonics opens a door to exploring the unique patterns and variations in individual responses to rewarding stimuli.
The discussion extends beyond the neurological realm to encompass the multifaceted nature of music itself. Music serves various purposes beyond eliciting pleasure, as highlighted by the study involving over 1,000 participants. The revelation that more than half of strong musical experiences involve mixed or even negative emotions challenges traditional evolutionary theories about seeking only positive stimuli. This complexity adds layers to our comprehension of music's role in expressing emotions, solving problems, and fostering social connections.
Furthermore, the distinction between the pleasure derived from music and its aesthetic appreciation is a captivating aspect. The article proposes that even individuals labeled as music anhedonics may still find aesthetic enjoyment in music, appreciating its intellectual and analytical dimensions. This insight broadens our perspective on how different individuals engage with and derive value from the artistic qualities of music.
Intriguingly, the article hints at the potential existence of "music aneudaimonics," individuals who may not only lack pleasure responses to music but also fail to derive a sense of purpose or engagement from it. The paucity of knowledge surrounding this phenomenon invites further exploration, promising a rich landscape for future studies.
In conclusion, this exploration into music anhedonics not only deepens our understanding of individual differences in the experience of music but also underscores the intricate interplay between the brain, emotions, and the arts. As an enthusiast committed to unraveling the mysteries of the mind, I eagerly anticipate the subsequent studies that this groundbreaking research is sure to catalyze, further enriching our comprehension of the profound impact of music on the human psyche.
