A break from all of the heavy stuff.

Why Music Moves Us
By Karen Schrock

"As a recreational vocalist, I have spent some of the most moving moments of my life engaged in song. As a college student, my eyes would often well up with tears during my twice a week choir rehearsals. I would feel relaxed and at peace yet excited and joyful, and I occasionally experienced a thrill so powerful that it sent shivers down my spine. I also felt connected with fellow musicians in a way I did not with friends who did not sing with me."

"Philosophers and biologists have asked the question for centuries, noting that humans are universally drawn to music. It consoles us, pumps us up and bonds us to others."

"Some scientists conclude that music's influence may be a chance event, arising from its ability to hijack brain systems built for other purposes such as language, emotion and movement." Psychologist Steven Pinker calls music "auditory cheesecake" a confection crafted to tickle the areas of the mind that evolved for more important functions. But as a result of that serendipity, music seems to offer a novel system of communication rooted in emotions rather than in meaning. Recent data show, for example, that music reliably conveys certain sentiments: what we feel when we hear a piece of music is remarkably similar to what everybody else in the room is experiencing."

"Emerging evidence also indicates that music brings out predictable responses across cultures and among people of widely varying musical or cognitive abilities. Even newborn infants and people who cannot discern pitch enjoy music's emotional effect." "It really seems to be as important a part of human life and communication as language and gesture" says Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia. "Such a dialogue provides a way for people to connect emotionally and thus may reinforce the ties that underlie the formation of human societies, which have clear survival advantages. Musical rhythms may have even facilitated certain physical interactions such as marching or dancing together, further cementing our social ties. In addition, tunes may work to our benefit on an individual level, manipulating mood and even human physiology more effectively than words can - to excite, energize, calm or promote physical fitness. All these benefits are causing people to reconsider whether music is truly as frivolous as it seems."

Universal Language

"Music's simultaneous activation of diverse brain circuits seems to produce some remarkable effects. Instead of facilitating a largely semantic dialogue, as language does, melody seems to mediate an emotional one. When a composer writes a lamentation or a toddler exuberantly bangs out a rhythm on a pot, that person is not only revealing his or her own emotional state but also causing listeners to share those feelings."

"Music's emotional content may even be culturally transparent. Researchers exposed members of the Mafa ethnic group in Cameroon who had never heard Western music to experts of classical piano music. The researchers found that the adults who listened to the excerpts consistently identified them as happy, sad or scary just as Western listener would. Thus, the ability of song to elicit a particular emotion does not necessarily depend on cultural background."

The article goes on in detail but I'm not trying to transcribe a a book here, lol, but if this tickles your mind I suggest picking up July/August issue of Scientific American Mind the rest is a great read.

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