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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Montreal, Canada
/ Sun, January 27, 2019
/ 11:03 pm
A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests
that there is a link between dopamine and pleasure experienced by people listening to
music.
in the study, researchers from the University of Barcelona in Spain and and Neurological
Institute of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, set out to discover if dopamine, a
neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the regulation of pleasant experiences, had a
direct impact on feelings of enjoyment when listening to music.
At the first session, participants were given the dopamine precursor levodopa, which
increases the availability of dopamine in the brain. In the second session, they were given
the dopamine antagonist risperidone, which reduces dopaminergic signaling. Finally in the
third session, participants were given a placebo.
In the course of each of the sessions, participants, who listened to their favorite songs and
ten other singles, were asked to evaluate their experience of each song subjectively along
with the variation in their levels of enjoyment occasioned by the transition from one song
to the next.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/01/27/dopamine-plays-a-role-in-the-enjoyment-of-music.html[29/04/2019 23:14:24]
Dopamine plays a role in the enjoyment of music - Lifestyle - The Jakarta Post
At the same time, the researchers measured changes in pleasure and reward responses
linked to the music using electrodermal activity, which is a very sensitive technique to
evaluate emotional changes.
The study findings show that risperidone impaired participants' capacity to experience the
chills that are considered to be the physical manifestation of peaks of musical pleasure. At
the same time, participants' ratings on emotional response were higher when they had
been given levodopa.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/01/27/dopamine-plays-a-role-in-the-enjoyment-of-music.html[29/04/2019 23:14:24]
Dopamine plays a role in the enjoyment of music - Lifestyle - The Jakarta Post
No decorrer de cada uma das sessões, os participantes, que ouviram suas músicas favoritas
e dez outros singles, foram convidados a avaliar subjetivamente a experiência de cada
música juntamente com a variação em seus níveis de prazer ocasionados pela transição de
uma música para a outra. Próximo.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/01/27/dopamine-plays-a-role-in-the-enjoyment-of-music.html[29/04/2019 23:14:24]