The fact that music strongly influences our feelings and attitude is a well-known fact for every lover of a good tune. It can motivate and energize, keep your spirits up, put you in a greater sadness than you already are in, or change your mood entirely in any other way. How does music work when it has this power over us? How can it affect your mood, and where this phenomenon is commonly used?
Why and how does music stimulate the brain?
The human brain reacts to all kinds of different stimuli. Music strongly impacts the part of it that is responsible for producing a certain mood-enhancing chemical — dopamine. This hormone influences human mood and behavior. What is interesting is that music’s impact is also neural, not only simply behavioral. This means that it truly changes the brain’s system and its effect is stronger than we might think. The way music affects us has been a topic of interest for centuries. Our ancient ancestors were already intrigued by how it changes their mood. How can it actually influence us?
Music and Mood
It is already clear that music can change your mood or strengthen the feeling you already feel. Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon. Studies have shown that positive tunes can make you feel energized, the faster beats can help you pull out all the stops when exercising or playing sports and might cheer you up when things do not go as planned. However, music can also evoke less pleasant feelings, such as sadness. Although you might wonder why would anyone wish to feel down and blue, it actually might have a cathartic effect. What’s more, listening to sad lyrics may evoke the feeling of empathy and get rid of any negative emotions you might have.
This power of music is often used to evoke certain feelings on purpose. The best examples are movies and TV shows. The whole idea of soundtracks is to create the right atmosphere, strengthen a certain feeling in the audience or stimulate specific parts of the brain. It intensifies the sensation that you, as a viewer, are actually in the middle of the scene and a part of the action that’s taking place on the screen. The music that is used might scare you, energize you, and make you feel calm and happy. Soundtracks play an especially important role in thrillers and horrors where they are used for building suspension and the feeling of tension.
Music is used in other places as well with the exact same goal — to influence your mood and behavior. Shops are notoriously using a specific kind of music to make people satisfied and cheerful and, as such, ready to shop more. Sounds are commonly used by players who use their favorite tunes to stay focused, motivated, and energized to achieve higher levels in games. Music might also be an integral part of such forms of entertainment as online casinos. It does not entrance and captivate players to keep them going, but it’s creating the right atmosphere, which is significant in such places. Although it does not influence your decision-making process, it makes the time spent at games more pleasant. Every player wants the best possible experience, which they can choose on the basis of reliable online casino reviews, to feel like in a real-life casino. After all, everything is as safe and gives the same possibilities as real places do.
Stress Reliever
Influencing and changing emotions is not the only way music affects the human brain. It might also be a great stress reliever. Your favorite tunes can distract you from a situation that causes an unpleasant feeling of stress. Music might help you calm down as well. It has the ability to lower your blood pressure and the level of cortisol in your body. What’s interesting is that it does not have to be some classical piece, as the research has shown that even heavy metal might have the same effect on your blood pressure. As you can see, it does not matter what type of music you are into, every genre can have a positive impact on your mood. Remember, however, that as the music changes your attitude, in some cases, it might provoke anger and aggression as well.