Monthly Archives: January 2017

What Is Going On In The Brains Of People Who Can’t Enjoy Music

 

piano

Our brains can be thought of as a collection of “cognitive organs” that must work in concert to be able to function fully. The same way a malfunction or weak connection, or an excessively strong connection for that matter between the organs in our body can cause many issues, some advantageous and some limiting, the strength of the connections between brain regions can also have an impact on how we see things and what our reactions to those things are.

When we consider how these differences can affect our individual and collective experiences we can begin to understand how these causes and effects play out. With this knowledge we can make better choices. In the case outlined in the article below, a reduced functional connectivity between the cortical regions responsible for processing sound and the subcortical regions related to reward can cause a condition called musical anhedonia. Musical anhedonia is the inability to be moved emotionally by music. Understanding this condition closer may reveal some interesting things about our nature and our evolutionary development.

Here are a couple articles to dig into the topic a little deeper:

Lack of joy from music linked to brain disconnection

What Is Musical Anhedonia? The Brains Of People Who Can’t Enjoy Music May Provide Clues About Evolution