Matthew Sachs, a former undergraduate at Harvard, conducted a study. It was on just 20 people: 10 who experience goosebumps listening to their favorite songs compared to 10 others who do not.
BTW, getting chills from music is actually very rare.
Sachs discovered that people who connect to music emotionally and physically literally have different brain structures than those who don’t. These folks tend to have a denser volume of fibers that connect the auditory cortex and areas that process emotions, resulting in the two areas communicating better with each other.
Sachs believes that a strong attachment to music means a person has stronger overall emotions. He is currently conducting more research that focuses on how music that causes certain reactions affects brain activity. His ultimate goal is to use his research to help treat psychological disorders, “Depression causes an inability to experience pleasure of everyday things. You could use music with a therapist to explore feelings.”
So...turn up Q101.9 loudly and sing along to all your favorite songs! It cures depression (possibly).
(DidYouKnowFacts) Photo: Getty