Relaxing Music Makes Us More Productive
Relaxing music makes us feel at home and helps us feel calmer and more productive. I still remember when I first heard the song by Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill.” Something about that song, the lyrics, the melody, made me feel like I had been through a storm. Even now, years later, it still can make me cry. Who among us doesn’t have a similar story about a song that touched us ? Whether attending a concert, listening to the radio, or singing in the shower, there’s something about music that can fill us with emotion, from joy to sadness. Music impacts us in ways that other sounds don’t, and for years now, scientists have been wondering why. Now they are finally beginning to find some answers. Using fMRI technology, they’re discovering why music can inspire such strong feelings and bind us so tightly to other people. “ Music affects deep emotional centers in the brain , “ says Valorie Salimpoor, a neuroscientist at McGill University who studies the brain on music. “A single sound t...
