<i></i> <i></i> <i></i> 3<p><img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/c-users-zainab-afridi-downloads-23-10-2449-jpg.jpeg"/></p> <p>Music has been around for centuries. Its popularity has only aggravated in stature instead of deteriorating over the centuries. You’d think that something that’s been around for so long has to experience a dip in fame somewhere along the line. Yet, here we are still listening to Michael Jackson on our iPods, rocking it like only he knew how! Legends of the industry such as Led Zepplin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and even Justin Bieber to an extent create pieces of art that are heard by people from all over the globe.</p> <h2>7. The Power of music:</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1685.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Music has an eccentric aura about it. It makes you disconnect with whatever is happening around you and connects you with your inner soul sending chills down your spine. Be it soulful music, rock music, rap or even electronic dance music. All of these genres have created their own systems of connecting with a magnanimous audience.</p> <p>Historically, music has been at the forefront of revolutions, instilling a sense of passion and motivation in the common man. I mean think about it, it gives you that extra buzz you need on a depressing Monday morning when you’re driving and lost in procrastination, thinking about all the crap you’re going to get from your boss, music is what gets you through.</p> <p>I’m not saying this is the case for everyone out there but there are certain unique factions in this world who are caught up in this uncontrollably mesmerizing love affair. It is these insignificantly significant people who experience music in a way that is completely unalike the rest of the world. Their bodies indulge in a ‘chilling’ sensation that is triggered by music. Why does this happen though?</p> <h2>6. Music stimulates a feeling of reward</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1686.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Music can be precariously tricky at times. When you hear those chords you so gull-ably drool over all the time while you’re listening to your self-proclaimed perfect playlist, your heart skips a beat and your pupils begin to dilate. Your soul has taken off and is way up in a place that only you know about. Your brain is flushed with dopamine and a tingling chill whisks down your body.</p> <p>Research suggests that music stimulates a feeling of reward in the forebrain, releasing dopamine into a part of the forebrain usually ignited by reward, addiction and motivation. They say music affects our brain the same way sex, gambling and potato chips do.</p> <h2>5. Why you get Chills?</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1687.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>The chills however are forced into existence due to the feeling of anticipation. Your mind is a good listener and registers everything you hear. So, when you’re listening to a song that you like, the brain is anxiously waiting for your favorite part of the song. But music can be unpredictable, hence teasing our brains and keeping the dopamine triggers unhinged.</p> <p>And that’s when the magic happens. When you’re all ready to bust that move you’ve withheld for so long waiting for the right moment, it finally comes. That’s when your brain is flooded with dopamine-soaked satisfaction and BAM before you know it, your body becomes a bag of chills.</p> <h2>4. How you get chills? Science Explains</h2> <h2>The chill factor – sad music</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1688.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Science however has its own way of constructing theories about anything and everything that exists. Just like that, there are theories about music and the chills we get. Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp discovered that chills are instigated more often by sad music rather than happy music. He argues that soulful and melancholic tunes induce a rather ancient ‘chilling’ mechanism.</p> <p>He relates it to the feeling of distress our ancestors felt when they were separated from family. What’s intriguing about his theory though is the fact that chills don’t sadden most people. Research suggests that sad music awakens underlying positive emotions that have been tucked away by our conscious. He claimed that sadness experienced through art is resoundingly more pleasant than sadness experienced from a crappy day at work.</p> <p>This hypothesis opens the door to another. This theory dives deep into the brain’s frailties. It argues that a somewhat sober tune may activate a feeling of fear in the amygdala; a part of the brain that process emotions and responds uniquely to music. As soon as the amygdala is poked your hairs stand on end and your brain begins to analyze whether you’re in any real danger. As soon as it realizes that there is actually nothing to worry about, the fear starts to subside giving room to positive emotions. The fear is gone but the chills still remain.</p> <h2>3. The theory of ‘Everything Goes’</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1689.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Contradictory to what we just discussed, another theory states that anything goes. By that I mean you can get chills from any kind of music you are exposed to. Be it Mozart, Madonna, Tango or even Techno. All of these extraordinary genres are prone to producing chills. Meaning thereby, it’s the structure and not the style that counts.</p> <p>Another valid observation is that goosebumps commonly occur when something unexpected happens. A new instrument enters, a shift in the tone, changing levels. It’s all about the element of surprise. Not everyone however is a fan of surprises. Some people are indifferent to that feeling of being blown away by something new.</p> <p>They prefer to know what to expect rather than being left in the dark. Scientifically speaking, when our expectations are being met, the nucleus accumbens become extra active. As a result of this, being familiar with what is to come can enhance the feeling of ecstasy excreted by the chills. I guess that’s why more than ninety percent of musicians experience it. Eventually, it also boils down to how you are as a person.</p> <p>Personality is a huge factor when we’re talking about feelings and emotions. Consider it this way, if you’re a rock fan you won’t be jumping around in excitement while you’re listening to Beethoven’s symphonies. Scientists at UNC Greensboro found that people who don’t shy away from new experiences tend to feel a quiver down their spine. While some researchers in Germany believe that people who felt chills were less entitled to be thrill-seekers but were more reward-driven. Whatever that means. But you get the point right?</p> <h2>2. Why are they special?</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1690.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>So I’m guessing after all that you know why this specific specie of people is so special. Well, even if you don’t it’s okay because many still wonder why. And due to this peculiar temptation of finding out exactly why they are the way they are, Mathew Sachs, a former undergraduate at the University of Harvard wanted to get to the bottom of this dilemma.</p> <p>He wanted to see precisely what all these chills were about. His research was based on 20 students, 10 of which admitted to getting these ‘chilling’ sensations while 10 of them didn’t. He took scans of all the brains and analyzed them with attention to detail. What he discovered eventually was that people who find it easier to establish a physical and emotional attachment to the music they listen to have completely different brain structures to those who can’t.</p> <p>Those of whom get triggered by music more compellingly have more densely packed fibers in their auditory cortex, as well as the part of the brain that responds to and processes emotions. These two parts of the brain communicate well with each other in humans that tend to be regular recipients of chills and goose bumps on their bodies. Sachs’s findings have been published on Oxford Academic, and he has been quoted by Neuroscience as saying:</p> <p>“The idea being that more fibers and increased efficiency between two regions mean that you have more efficient processing between them.”</p> <p>After all the hard work and resilience Sachs put into his experiment, he discovered something unknown to the human eye. He found out that people who are more likely to get chills are more in touch with their ethos. They tend to have stronger and more intense emotions.</p> <p>Another thing to be pointed out is that people more often than not associate the songs they develop a liking for with memories. This is something that cannot be controlled while experimenting in a laboratory. Even though the study was done on a small sample group, it still ended up deducing that there is a major difference in people’s brain cell structures.</p> <h3>1. We’re all different, so live and let live!</h3> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1691.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Finally, to put all of it into perspective music fulfills certain needs and requirements that are felt by just a minute number of selected people. Before Sachs’ experiment people would argue for days on end about this particular predicament. It would be the focal point of many cafeteria discussions between music lovers. But now it seems to be crystal clear.</p> <p>It’s actually quite amusing that all of it makes sense. Music has been around for centuries and will be around for centuries to come. It will have a resounding impact on certain members of the society and some will just look at them thinking they’re crazy. This experiment helps to quantify exactly why some people prefer to turn the music up in their rooms while they’re working or even studying and some prefer to keep it as quiet as possible. They just have different brains. How simple of a solution is that?</p> <i></i>