From classical music to rap, the music that we listen to can have such a compelling effect our brains. For example, if you were feeling sad, what would you do? Listen to sad music to match your current state, or hype yourself up with more energetic music to raise your mood? Music has the ability to trigger so many different responses that can affect our mood and our overall mental state.
“I think if you are depressed you can just go on a drive and listen to music, and you will immediately feel more relaxed and at peace. If you are going out, you listen to hype music, but if you want to relax, you listen to slower music,” said Zoe Weber ’27.
Music’s effects on the brain are partially the result of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers the feeling of well-being and pleasure, being released. Scientifically, when you listen to enjoyable music, dopamine is released from the dorsal and ventral striatum. It is well known that activity in these areas is connected to the brain’s reward system. According to Harvard Medicine, the magazine of Harvard Medical School, “Music also lights up nearly all of the brain,” and especially “the limbic system, which governs pleasure, motivation, and reward.”
But music has another power over the brain: it can bring up memories and emotions associated with specific experiences. As Mr. Jay Salon reflected, “Listening to old music brings you back to good memories. Music brings you back to a place where you were young and innocent and to a time of good times.”
This experience of memories being brought back from music is known as music-evoked autobiographical memory. For instance, certain songs come to symbolize particular occasions, eras of life, or relationships with others. The fact that people tend to listen to their favorite music more frequently than other genres outside of their comfort zone serves to further support this impact.
Mr. Salon said he has a special connection to the song “You are Always on my Mind” by the Partridge Family. “It reminds me of Canada, where a lady at a restaurant would always play this song on the jukebox… it reminds me of innocent times. Life was simple. It’s amazing how you don’t have to hear a song for decades and still know the lyrics. Music is something you hold on to forever and truly moves you.”
Ella Balestra ’27 told us something similar about the song “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. “It brings me back to when I was little, and I would always listen to it with my dad. I always had so much fun in the car with my dad when we would listen to these songs, and now I get nostalgia whenever I hear it.”
Music is a powerful combination of physics, biology, and psychology, from the vibrations of air molecules that produce sound waves to the complex brain processes that interpret melody and rhythm. Understanding the science behind music adds to our appreciation of its timeless appeal, whether it is through the interaction between frequencies or the emotional impact of a perfectly written piece.
As Milla Siahpoosh ’26 put it, “Music makes my brain happy.”
