00:00Have you ever been listening to your favorite song?
00:02Maybe right at the climax, where the singer hits that impossible high note or the beat
00:06drops perfectly.
00:07You feel a cold shiver crawl up your spine and tiny ghost bumps pop up in your arms.
00:11We actually have a French senior for this.
00:13They call it frisson, which is a French word meaning aesthetic chill.
00:16Some people even call it a string orgasm.
00:18But why on earth does a collection of sounds make our gody react?
00:22As if we were standing in a walk in frisson.
00:24To find the answer, we have to travel back in time to our very early ancestors and then
00:29take a deep dive into how your brain process is surprising.
00:32Long ago, before humans had cozy hoodies and central heating, goosebumps had a very practical
00:37job.
00:37Even when our ancestors got old, teeny muscles as the base of their hair follicles would
00:42contain, pulling the hair right up.
00:44This trapped a layer of air near the skin to keep them warm.
00:47It also served as a defense mechanism.
00:49Today, we don't have much work, so we just kept these little bumps.
00:52But music is not cold, and catchy pop song usually is not a threat.
00:56This is where the brain's wiring catch really interesting.
00:58The reason we get these bumps from music is that our emotional brain and our physical
01:02survival instincts are connected in a very unique way.
01:05When you listen to music you love, your brain releases a chemical called dopamine.
01:09This is the same feel-good chemical that gets released when you eat your favorite pizza,
01:13get a high score in a game, or receive a compliment.
01:16Scientists have found that when a song really moves us, our brain's reward center lights
01:20up like a neon sign.
01:21But music is unique because it bridges the gap between the amygdala, which handles your deepest
01:26emotions and the auditory cortex, which processes sound.
01:29When a piece of music is especially powerful, it creates a jolt of electricity through these
01:34connections.
01:34This jolt is so intense that it spills over into our autonomic nervous system.
01:38One of the main reasons music gives us chills is the element of surprise.
01:42Your brain is really good at predicting what is next.
01:45When you hear a melody, your brain is always trying to guess what note will come next.
01:49Or when the beat will drop, it enjoys being right, but it actually gets a bigger thrill
01:53from being pleasantly wrong.
01:54If a song does something unexpected, like a certain scene from quiet to loud, your brain
01:59is alert, system quicks in.
02:00This little shock triggers a mild fight-or-flight response, which leads to the goosebump.
02:05But almost right away, your thinking brain realizes it is just a beautiful song, and it
02:09floods your system with dopamine as a reward for the discovery.
02:12Research indicates that only about half to two-thirds of people feel them.
02:16Studies using brain scans have shown that people who get goose bumps often have a greater volume
02:21of fibers connecting their auditory cortex to the areas that possess emotions.
02:25This means their brains are basically hardwired to communicate more effectively between what
02:29they hear and what they feel.
02:30These individuals also tend to have a personality trait known as openness to experience, which
02:35means they have vivid imaginations and a deep appreciation for beauty and nature.
02:39So the next time you have your headphones on and you experience that wave of tingles down
02:43your shoulders.
02:44Don't consider it strange.
02:45It is actually a wonderful evolutionary glace.
02:57So the next time you get to be able to reflect the view of that.
02:58It is also a wonderful thing.
02:58So the first time I am wondering how the purpose of this process is not just one thing in the
02:58This means that you don't have a solace.
02:59What is it like?
03:00And what is it like?
03:03Do it like a sort of thing?
03:08I have a great day.
Comments