The same brain chemicals that are responsible for our enjoyment of recreational drugs, sex, and food are also involved in the experience of getting pleasure from listening to music. In order to find out more about the brain’s pleasure circuits’ involvement in music perception, researchers blocked the release of natural opioids in the participants’ brains by administering naltrexone, a drug often prescribed for addiction treatment. Study subjects found that, under the influence of the opioid inhibitor, their favorite songs no longer moved them the way the music usually does. These findings help further our understanding of the complex cognitive processes involved in music perception. Additionally, any new knowledge about the neurochemical mechanisms of pleasure is instrumental in addictions research.
Authors:
Adiel Mallik, Mona Lisa Chanda & Daniel J. Levitin
Corresponding author:
Daniel Levitin, Department of Psychology, McGill University, Email: daniel.levitin@mcgill.
Original paper published in Nature on February 8, 2017.
