Anticipation is an effective tool in a song as it ____the brain with a shot of dopamine or oxytocin which aid a sense of well-being.

image:Inspired by creative efforts of people around the world to reproduce music-making together while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and the University of Chicago fused the latest advances in social neuroscience and the field of music, including evolutionary theory, and highlighted five key functions and mechanisms of the brain that contribute to social connection through music. The findings illustrate that music isn't just mere entertainment, but instead a core feature of human existence with important social implications. The five functions and mechanisms involving at least 12 important brain regions and two pathways are mapped in this image. more Credit: Background artwork: Bryan Christie Design Overlay design: Dr. David M. Greenberg Music is a tool that has accompanied our evolutionary journey and provided a sense of comfort and social connection for millennia. New research published today in the American Psychologist provides a neuroscientific understanding of the social connection with a new map of the brain when playing music. A team of social neuroscientists from Bar-Ilan University and the University of Chicago introduced a model of the brain that sheds light on the social functions and brain mechanisms that underlie the musical adaptations used for human connection. The model is unique because it focuses on what happens in the brain when people make music together, rather than when they listen to mu...

Can music really affect your well-being, learning, cognitive function, quality of life, and even happiness? A • Music listeners had higher scores for mental well-being and slightly reduced levels of anxiety and depression compared to people overall. • Of survey respondents who currently go to musical performances, 69% rated their brain health as “excellent” or “very good,” compared to 58% for those who went in the past and 52% for those who never attended. • Of those who reported often being exposed to music as a child, 68% rated their ability to learn new things as “excellent” or “very good,” compared to 50% of those who were not exposed to music. • Active musical engagement, including those over age 50, was associated with higher rates of happiness and good cognitive function. • Adults with no early music exposure but who currently engage in some music appreciation show above average mental well-being scores. Let’s take a closer look at this study Those are pretty impressive results, to be sure. However, this 20-minute online survey has some limitations. For one, it included 3,185 US adults ages 18 and older; that is a small number if you are extrapolating to 328 million people across the country. For another, it is really a survey of people’s opinions. For example, although people might report their brain health as “excellent,” there was no objective measure of brain health such as an MRI scan, or even a test to measure their cognition. Lastly, even if the ratings were ...

Source: iStock:pfongabe33 Do you ever wish you could just turn on the happy chemicals in your brain? Imagine how much easier it would make getting out bed each morning, getting even the most tedious parts of your job done, and finding the energy to consistently show up as your best self for the people you care about the most. The same is true for humans. Happy chemicals are turned on in your brain when you see a way to meet a survival need such as food, safety, or social support, but with the added complication that your cortex — the thinking part of your brain — makes long chains of association based on your early experiences of life. Each happy chemical triggers a different good feeling. For example: • Dopamine gives you a feeling of excitement and a surge of energy when you find things that meet your needs. It provides the “Eureka! I got it!” feeling. But you don't get it for needs that have already been met, so this means that you have to look for new and improved ways to pursue what is important for you, based on your past dopamine surges. • Endorphins produce feelings of euphoria that can help to mask your pain for a short time, so you can escape from harm when you’re injured. Like a runner's high after a tough workout, it's triggered by physical pain, but also from • Oxytocin produces the feeling of being safe with others and helps you to connect with and trust others. When present, it fuels our sense of belonging and • Serotonin produces the feeling of being respec...

Key points • Research shows that the brain releases dopamine in anticipation of a reward. • Unpredictability of the reward increases anticipation and the amount of dopamine release. • Shopping online creates anticipation because the buyer has to wait for the purchase. • One study revealed that 76 percent of Americans say they get more excited over online purchases they waited for in the mail than in-store ones. Let’s say that you’re the CEO of a large retail clothing brand. You have stores throughout the world, and you have a website. People buy shirts, pants, skirts, belts, and so on at your stores and at your site. If you want people to enjoy the shopping process with your brand and to be excited about buying your products, what should you do? Let’s say your answer is: “I’m going to make shopping in the stores the best shopping experience possible. We’ll have in-store events, models wearing the clothes in the stores, and exciting sales. We’ll stock the stores with all colors and sizes, so people can be sure that when they come in, we’ll have what they want. I know that we have the online stores too, but if I am going to spend time and energy on one or the other, I'll spend it making the in-store experience the best it can be.” Sapolsky measured the amount and timing of dopamine release in the monkeys’ brains during the cycle of signal—work (pressing the button)—reward (food treat). The monkeys received the treat as soon as they pressed the bar 10 times. Surprisingly, the...