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In Reply to: RE: Why we are audiophiles.... posted by slapshot on January 04, 2017 at 21:00:55
The original post wasn't a question of why we are audiophiles, but rather a statement of why we are audiophile, with the answer being that listening to music affects our brain, as can be seen with neuroimaging. The statements, "Because I love music" or "Music gives me a kind of high" or "For self-medication" are all acknowledgements that music affects our brains positively, probably through what's called the "dopamine reward pathway" (among other systems). And, as some have indicated, males looking at evocative photos has the same effect.Ultimately, we are audiophiles because music affects us (our brains) in a positive way.
Edits: 01/05/17Follow Ups:
...probably through what's called the "dopamine reward pathway"Probably? That's common to all addiction and I confess to being a music junkie. On the other hand, I disagree with Pinker, who refers to music as 'auditory cheesecake'. Bone flutes and other simple devices with which to make music are among the oldest artifacts in our museums. Tone singing could well predate proper language. Language and music may share neuro-networks, but I don't think we can deduce from that, as Pinker does, that music is just our brain's applying those networks to entertain itself. It's even beneficial to learn to play an instrument and read music. Doing so drives morphological changes in those networks which enhance our linguistic skills.
Music is certainly a drug, of sorts, but it is much more. The sweeping emotional power of music is incredible. It relaxes me and brings me joy and certain music makes me cry. In all cultures, music is a companion to the three Fs - we use it to woo, to travel and to motivate us in battle. It's important. It drives us. It can even give cadence to the gait of a Parkinson's patient (further supporting the connection to dopamine). It can draw memories from individuals with senile dementia. It is life.
If you aren't familiar with Rachel Flowers, I think you should check out some youtube videos of her playing. She has been blind since birth, essentially. That leaves nearly a third of her cortex without the task it would normally perform, but the brain's plasticity puts that computing power to other uses. She has an auditory and musical super-brain. Once she was exposed to music (early in her life, fortunately) it began remodeling her brain. Wouldn't you love to image her brain while she is playing, or just imagining herself playing, an instrument?
Edits: 01/06/17 01/06/17
Hey Wazoo! Long time, no hear. I said "probably" as the scientist in me always hedges a bit. If we want to be more accurate, we should say, "the dopamine anticipation of reward pathway".Rachel Flowers certainly has "music in her brain." You know, I still watch good musicians and, even though I know the neural mechanisms behind what they do, I still have to wonder how they do it. It boggle my brain.
Happy new year!
Edits: 01/06/17
You know; that bites audiophiles in the butt from time to time. ;-)
I was amazed enough at Rachel's ability to convince me that I was listening to Keith Emerson when I closed my eyes, but to do the same with Frank Zappa after a mere two years of playing the guitar just makes her prowess all the more mind boggling. At/near the top of the comments of the first video I saw of her playing on stage with Dweezil, someone mentioned that it's unfair. That's really why I mentioned it to you, because I don't think it's unfair at all - at least to some extent, she pays for her incredible talent by living without vision. I think it would be fascinating to see just how differently her brain is structured and something tells me that she'd be only too happy to participate in a little study.
Happy New Year.
Lately, I've been bumping up against the other side of neuroplasticity, specifically the changes in our brains that affect how we hear phonemes, or, rather, don't hear (at least, attend to) those to which we aren't exposed by age seven. For the last couple of years, I've been more and more enchanted by other languages and I not only enjoy listening to music from other parts of the world, but I also thrill at the challenge of learning the words and singing along (not that I'm much of a singer). Recently, I've been focusing on a few Finnish songs - words like liinahapaijan are bloody difficult for this old geezer's tongue, but it's still easier than learning the Russian stuff. Anyway, it's fun and I'm improving. Perhaps, more importantly, it supplies my brain with novelty that I hope will help keep it healthy as the years continue to mount.
Yes, phonemes get more difficult as we lose our ability to perceive the higher frequencies, which mostly, in regards to language, affects our ability to distinguish consonants.
In Rachel's brain, assuming she was blind from birth, I would guess most of her visual cortex, as well as secondary areas in the parietal and temporal loves, is processing auditory information.
I've studied six languages in addition to my native language of English....at some point, when I was learning Chinese, my brain just felt "full." Finish is no picnic, but Chinese was over the top for me.
I really enjoy listening to music from German and Japan, both places I've lived for extended periods.
...so do you think that's the explanation of why people have other hobbies as well?
Say golf, boating, restoring autos, bicycling, painting, etc.
Absolutely. Anything you do that you find rewarding (i.e., you love it) stimulates the dopamine reward pathway, which is one reason you continue to do it. These days, the best example is the little rush of dopamine kids (and adults) get from texting and social media....very addicting, with all the classical characteristics of any addiction.
Oh yeah, that. It's true. The New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve concert this year brought me such joy that I almost contributed to my local PBS affiliate station. I may do it yet.
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