


Overall, music has a positive effect on us, with one notable exception. The song is helping to bring back fond and pleasant memories.

That’s why songs from the past can trigger memories, and why many of us feel nostalgic when we hear songs from our childhood, adolescence, or peak times in our life. Music also triggers the hippocampus, which is the part of your brain that’s associated with long-term memory storage. Engaging both sides of your brain simultaneously boosts your ability to solve problems because you’re using the creative left side of your brain at the same time as the logical right side. Listening to music activates both sides our brain, the left, and the right. The thing is that “pleasant” is a subjective term, and so the same song can affect each of us differently. For example, listening to pleasant tunes can boost serotonin levels, which makes us happy. On a physiological level, our breathing and heart rate will mirror the beat of a song.ĭifferent types of songs can also alter our body chemistry and hormone levels. And since our brain sends signals to every part of our body, music can affect us in a variety of ways. Our brains are wired to respond to music.
