Music Psychology: An introduction

Shown is a diagram of the Nuclear Accumbens and Ventral Tegmental Area.

Studies have proven that when we listen to music we release the pleasure chemical dopamine (situated in the Ventral Tegmental area of the brain). The release of dopamine in our brain is triggered when a part of our brain called the nucleus accumbens activates. The release of dopamine is the exact same chemical that is released when something we find pleasurable happens to us.


Before going off and trying to write songs to reflect and influence certain emotions or actions. I first need to understand how music actually affects the brain and how the brain responds to music. An even more detailed description of how music affects the brain is explained in the following picture:

 
Sources:
https://medium.com/what-i-learned-today/be3172896a0f
http://visual.ly/psychology-music?utm_source=visually_embed