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Music can act like a sweet, sweet drug on our brains

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Write an article about Listening to your favourite music triggers the release of opioids in several areas of the brain associated with pleasure. (Envato Elements pic)
PARIS: There’s a good chance you’ve experienced the sensation of a thrill running down your spine when you listen to your favourite song. What if this ecstasy, both intense and difficult to describe, had its roots in humans’ neurochemistry?

That’s precisely what a Finnish study published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging reveals.

It argues that music directly activates the brain’s opioid system, the same network involved in the fundamental pleasures associated with humankind’s survival.

To explore this mystery, Finnish researchers at the Turku PET Center sought to understand what actually happens in a person’s brain when they listen to a song they like. Their study used a dual brain imaging technique.

First, they used positron emission tomography (PET) on around 15 volunteers with an average age of 26. This technique measures chemical activity in the brain by tracking the release of certain substances, such as opioids.

On the other hand, the researchers performed functional MRI (fMRI) scans on the same participants to record changes in blood flow and thus locate the areas of the brain activated when they were listening to music.

The results are unequivocal: listening to your favourite music triggers the release of opioids in several areas of the brain associated with pleasure.

This phenomenon is even more pronounced in people who report experiencing “music-induced chills,” intense feelings of pleasure that can be accompanied by goose bumps, tingling, or sudden emotions.

The more frequent these chills were, the higher the brain activity in the relevant areas of the brain.

In addition, the density of opioid receptors, which varies from person to person, directly influences how the brain responds to music.

A painkiller without side effects

In other words, the more opioid receptors people have, the stronger their emotional response to their favourite songs.

“These results show for the first time directly that listening to music activates the brain’s opioid system.

“The release of opioids explains why music can produce such strong feelings of pleasure, even though it is not a primary reward necessary for survival or reproduction, such as food or sexual pleasure,” explained Vesa Putkinen, a researcher at the University of Turku, in a press release.

Much more than just a source of pleasure, music also has an amazing power to soothe. Long observed by researchers, this analgesic effect now has a neuromodulator explanation.

“The brain’s opioid system is also involved in pain relief. Based on our findings, the previously observed pain-relieving effects of music may be due to music-induced opioid responses in the brain,” explained Professor Lauri Nummenmaa.

These discoveries could well change the way scientists think about music in the field of health.

In addition to improving the understanding of the mechanisms of musical pleasure, they pave the way for innovative therapeutic approaches.

Integrating music into treatments for pain or mental disorders is no longer a far-fetched idea, but a serious avenue supported by neuroscience.

Because behind the magic of a simple melody, there is a whole chemical orchestration at work in people’s brains.

Perhaps that’s a great reason to put your headphones back on, close your eyes, and let yourself be carried away by the universal, mysterious, and deeply human pleasure that is music.

in 1000-1500 words .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from musicListening to your favourite music triggers the release of opioids in several areas of the brain associated with pleasure. (Envato Elements pic)
PARIS: There’s a good chance you’ve experienced the sensation of a thrill running down your spine when you listen to your favourite song. What if this ecstasy, both intense and difficult to describe, had its roots in humans’ neurochemistry?

That’s precisely what a Finnish study published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging reveals.

It argues that music directly activates the brain’s opioid system, the same network involved in the fundamental pleasures associated with humankind’s survival.

To explore this mystery, Finnish researchers at the Turku PET Center sought to understand what actually happens in a person’s brain when they listen to a song they like. Their study used a dual brain imaging technique.

First, they used positron emission tomography (PET) on around 15 volunteers with an average age of 26. This technique measures chemical activity in the brain by tracking the release of certain substances, such as opioids.

On the other hand, the researchers performed functional MRI (fMRI) scans on the same participants to record changes in blood flow and thus locate the areas of the brain activated when they were listening to music.

The results are unequivocal: listening to your favourite music triggers the release of opioids in several areas of the brain associated with pleasure.

This phenomenon is even more pronounced in people who report experiencing “music-induced chills,” intense feelings of pleasure that can be accompanied by goose bumps, tingling, or sudden emotions.

The more frequent these chills were, the higher the brain activity in the relevant areas of the brain.

In addition, the density of opioid receptors, which varies from person to person, directly influences how the brain responds to music.

A painkiller without side effects

In other words, the more opioid receptors people have, the stronger their emotional response to their favourite songs.

“These results show for the first time directly that listening to music activates the brain’s opioid system.

“The release of opioids explains why music can produce such strong feelings of pleasure, even though it is not a primary reward necessary for survival or reproduction, such as food or sexual pleasure,” explained Vesa Putkinen, a researcher at the University of Turku, in a press release.

Much more than just a source of pleasure, music also has an amazing power to soothe. Long observed by researchers, this analgesic effect now has a neuromodulator explanation.

“The brain’s opioid system is also involved in pain relief. Based on our findings, the previously observed pain-relieving effects of music may be due to music-induced opioid responses in the brain,” explained Professor Lauri Nummenmaa.

These discoveries could well change the way scientists think about music in the field of health.

In addition to improving the understanding of the mechanisms of musical pleasure, they pave the way for innovative therapeutic approaches.

Integrating music into treatments for pain or mental disorders is no longer a far-fetched idea, but a serious avenue supported by neuroscience.

Because behind the magic of a simple melody, there is a whole chemical orchestration at work in people’s brains.

Perhaps that’s a great reason to put your headphones back on, close your eyes, and let yourself be carried away by the universal, mysterious, and deeply human pleasure that is music.

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