Why We Love Music

No one knows why we “invented” Music, but its been part of human culture, even before we had a culture.

Musical instruments have been found dating back thousands of years ago, but why they were invented researchers haven’t a clue. There is nothing in the human brain that scientists can label as a “music center”, but like many other higher processes, the tasks involved in creating, and enjoying music are distributed across several brain areas.

For example, one study found that when focusing on “harmony”, subjects experience increased activity in the right temporal lobe’s auditory areas. Studies show the temporal lobe to be a key region for certain musical tasks, working with other areas in the frontal lobe which is responsible for forming meaningful musical structures; in the same way the brain creates speech and language syntax, not just vocal “noise”, like the barking of a dog, or the mewing of a cat.

One study that focused on “harmony” showed that increased activity in the right temporal lobe’s auditory areas is the one key region in the brain that works closely with areas in the frontal lobe that forms musical syntax and structure.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, it’s no surprise to learn that the mechanics of emotional response to music are essentially the same responses linked to food, sex and drugs.

So it appears that all humans are addicted to something! So it’s quite possible that those who have experienced a Heavy Metal Concert are probably experiencing at least two of the three responses simultaneously!