The Music That Has Painkilling Effects

And no, it’s not about distraction.

A recent study by Dr. Vesa Putkinen et al. has looked into the neurological effects of listening to music we find pleasant, and what exactly is going on for us neurologically in response to that.

As it turns out, listening to pleasurable music activates the brain’s opioid receptors.

In other words, the response is neurologically similar to taking an opioid drug, except that it’s more moderate, so it’s not addictive.

Some specific findings from the study:

• Favorite music triggered opioid release in brain areas linked to pleasure.
• The amount of opioid release correlated with how often participants experienced “chills” from the music.
• Individuals with more opioid receptors had stronger brain activation responses to music

*For example, smoking kills opioid receptors, as does aging, and women typically have fewer opioid receptors than men; see: Interindividual variability and lateralization of μ-opioid receptors in the human brain

In terms of how strong this response is, the researchers concluded that music can induce pleasure similarly to survival-related rewards like food and sex.

Of course, it has to be the right music for us personally, but then, isn’t that true of food and sex also?

You can read the study in full here:

Pleasurable music activates cerebral µ-opioid receptors: a combined PET-fMRI study

It reminds us of the painkilling effects of nature that we wrote about a while back:

How Nature Provides Us With A Surprisingly Powerful Painkiller

…which again, was not a matter of distraction; in that case it was about reducing the actual signals of pain, so that we are physically less able to feel it.

So perhaps, for a combination effect, listen to your favorite music while enjoying your garden or a local park!

Want to learn more?

We’ve written quite a bit about pain management, including:

• Before You Reach For That Tylenol…
• How To Stop Pain Spreading
• How To Dial Down Your Pain
• Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)
• Get The Right Help For Your Pain
• The 7 Approaches To Pain Management
• Science-Based Alternative Pain Relief (When Painkillers Aren’t Helping, These Things Might)

Take care!