Listening to music triggers the same pleasure-reward system in the brain as food, sex and cocaine, according to McGill University researcher Valorie Salimpoor.
According to a study conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University (MNI), listening to music we love stimulates production of the pleasure chemical, dopamine, in our brain.
The study used Positron emission tomography (PET) and fMRI technology to assert where dopamine is released in the brain and at what point in the song. Turns out, dopamine is released at the peak moment in the ventral striatum and in anticipation of the peak moment in the dorsal striatum.
Adam Avrashi shot, edited and produced this report.