The Scientific Power of Music, The Natural Drug of Happiness (VIDEO)


Music has been a part of us since the beginning of time and it has fascinated scientists for many centuries. It is all around us and affects our lives in innumerable ways, but do we know exactly how music has such a great power over us?

Music sheet with iPod

When you listen to music, your brain releases a chemical known as dopamine. This chemical is a neurotransmitter and it is the same one involved when experiencing pleasure. Well, the video below explains in depth the mechanics of your brain reactions while listening to music.

Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown are two twenty-five-year-old canadians who left the University of Guelph to pursue their dream. Their goal was to create videos that "demystify science for as many people as possible.".  A year and a half ago, the guys launched the YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE.

Today, their YouTube channel is a huge success with 2,163,701 subscribers and 198,633,794 views. They have almost 100 videos to date that are all gone viral. You can read more about their story here.

But for now, here is the scientific explanation of music and how it affects us. You will never see the experience of music the same way and I can now say without any shame that I am a music addict!

Photo credit: Lambert Wolterbeek Muller/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND

