For the past few months I have been thinking through how our favorite songs become our favorite songs-- an experience, instrumentation, lyrics, etc. I am curious as to what happens on the chemical level in our brains that may reduce the satisfaction we receive when we listen to our favorite songs.
Do hormones such as dopamine release less after a song is played more? What role does familiarity then play in enjoyment? Does satisfaction go down simply because a hormone is released less, not because it is no longer our favorite song? What role does time play?
Hi Olivia,
I don’t know whether specific works have been done on music and familiarity (perhaps anticipation?). But you can search for specific (neuro)hormones such as oxytocin, cortisol, prolactin, testosterone, and ACTH, there is some literature for those neurochemicals.
Two reviews:
- Chanda & Levitin (2013). The neurochemistry of music
- Fancourt et al (2014). The psychoneuroimmunological effects of music - A systematic review and a new model
As for dopamine, you can look at
- Gebauer, Kringelbach & Vuust (2012). Ever-Changing Cycles of Musical Pleasure - The Role of Dopamine and Anticipation
- Salimpoor et al Zatorre (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music
- Blood & Zatorre (2001). Intensely Pleasurable Responses To Music Correlate With Activity In Brain Regions Implicated In Reward And Emotion
Yes, there are certainly intra-individual differences in pleasure experienced from a given stimulus. One factor in this is satiety (think of food, sex, etc.). As for the precise chemicals mediating these responses/experiences, there's likely to be a role for endogenous opioids, which are important to pleasure-in-the-moment. Dopamine will be particularly important to the drive state, or desire, to listen again. And yes, I think time, as well as individual differences and contextual factors, will all be involved.
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