Listening to good music activates same parts of brain as food and sex

By Stephen Beech

Listening to our favorite music activates the same parts of the brain as food and sex, reveals new research.

The study showed that listening to the tunes we like most affects the function of the brain’s opioid system.

Researchers explained that music can evoke intense pleasure, sometimes experienced physically as pleasant “chills.”

But while the effect of music on pleasure is clear, the brain mechanisms behind musical enjoyment are not yet fully understood.

Scientists say the brain's opioid system is known to be involved in pleasurable experiences related to "survival-critical" behaviors, such as eating and sex.

Now, the new study from the Turku PET Centre in Finland shows for the first time that listening to favorite music also activates the brain’s opioid receptors.

Scientists measured the release of opioids in the brain using positron emission tomography (PET) while participants listened to the music they liked best.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was also used to examine how the density of opioid receptors affects brain activation when listening to music.

The results, published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine, show that favorite music influenced opioid release in several brain areas associated with the experience of pleasure.

The release of opioids was also linked to how often participants reported experiencing pleasurable "chills" while listening to music.

Individual differences in the number of opioid receptors also correlated with brain activation during music listening: the more opioid receptors participants had, the more strongly their brains reacted in MRI scans.

Academy Research Fellow Vesa Putkinen, from the University of Turku, said: “These results show for the first time directly that listening to music activates the brain’s opioid system.

"The release of opioids explains why music can produce such strong feelings of pleasure, even though it is not a primary reward necessary for survival or reproduction, like food or sexual pleasure.”

Professor Lauri Nummenmaa added: “The brain’s opioid system is also involved in pain relief.

"Based on our findings, the previously observed pain-relieving effects of music may be due to music-induced opioid responses in the brain.”

He said the study provides "significant" new insight into how the brain’s chemical systems regulate the pleasure derived from music.

Lauri Nummenmaa believes the results may also help develop new music-based interventions, for example, in pain management and the treatment of mental health disorders.