Why Do We Listen to New Music? An interesting article from the leading music magazine
Why Do We Listen to New Music? An interesting article from the leading music magazine
Our brains reward us for seeking out what we already know. So why should we reach to listen to something we don’t? Pitchfork, one of the leading music magazines available in the mainstream, explores this question using Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring as an example.
From the article....
It has to do with the plasticity of our brain. Our brains change as they recognize new patterns in the world, which is what makes brains, well, useful. When it comes to hearing music, a network of nerves in the auditory cortex called the corticofugal network helps catalog the different patterns of music. When a specific sound maps onto a pattern, our brain releases a corresponding amount of dopamine, the main chemical source of some of our most intense emotions. This is the essential reason why music triggers such powerful emotional reactions, and why, as an art form, it is so inextricably tied to our emotional responses.
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