Scientists zapped people’s brains with magnetic pulses and it changed their taste in music
Scientists zapped people’s brains with magnetic pulses
and it changed their taste in music
Participants' enjoyment of music, and the amount they
were willing to spend on it, were both affected by stimulation of neural
circuits
By Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent November 23,2017
Stimulating someone's brain with magnetic pulses is
enough to change their taste in music, according to new research.
Using a non-invasive technique called transcranial
magnetic stimulation, Scientists managed to change the enjoyment of music felt
by their subjects.
Not only did the treatment alter the way participants
rated music, it even affected the amount of money they were willing to spend on
it.
Showing that the way people value music can be changed
using this technique is “an important – and remarkable – demonstration that the
circuitry behind these complex responses is now becoming better understood,”
said Professor Robert Zatorre, a neurologist at Canada's McGill University and
senior author of the Nature Human Behaviour study.
The circuitry in question is found in a part of the brain
called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Previous brain imaging studies have demonstrated that
stimulation of this region leads to the release of a substance called dopamine,
which acts as a chemical 'reward'. Other studies have shown that pleasurable
music engages reward circuits in the brain.
But this is the first time anyone has manipulated this
circuitry to change the way people think.
When the scientists used ‘excitatory’ stimulation on the
target brain region, the participants reported that they liked the music they
were listening to more, and when ‘inhibitory’ stimulation was used they liked
it less.
These results played out in the participants’ spending as
well. The participants were willing to spend more on music following excitatory
stimulation, and less following inhibitory stimulation.
All of the changes were only temporary.
Professor Zatorre thinks that this work could be applied
to treat conditions as diverse as addiction, obesity and depression, because
such disorders also rely on the brain’s reward circuitry.
“Showing that this circuit can be manipulated so
specifically in relation to music opens the door for many possible future
applications in which the reward system may need to be up or down-regulated,”
he said.
Comments
Post a Comment