You’re listening to a song you love.
The moment it reaches your favorite chorus.
An unexpected key change, or a beautiful voice, and suddenly
“I got chills.”
Has that ever happened to you?
It isn’t cold.
You haven’t seen anything frightening.
And yet, just from listening to music, your body reacts all on its own.
In fact, the intense emotion and goosebumps that music can trigger have been studied scientifically, and the experience is known as “frisson” or “musical chills.”
In this article, let’s look at why the “being moved” we feel in our hearts shows up as a physical reaction in the form of goosebumps.
How Do Goosebumps Happen in the First Place?
Near the root of each hair in our skin is a tiny muscle called the arrector pili.
When something like cold causes this muscle to contract, the hair stands up and the skin around the pore rises.
That’s what we call goosebumps.
This reaction is governed by the autonomic nervous system.
Because humans have relatively little body hair, the effect on keeping us warm is limited. But in furry animals, raising the hair creates a layer of air that helps protect the body from the cold.
Curiously, though, human goosebumps don’t only appear when we’re cold.
Fear.
Surprise.
Being deeply moved.
And music.
Even when nothing is physically happening to the body, strong emotions alone can bring on goosebumps.
What Is “Frisson,” the Shiver Music Gives You?
You’re listening to music you love, and
a shiver runs down your spine.
Goosebumps rise on your arms.
Your heart feels full.
This kind of intense, pleasurable reaction to music is sometimes called “frisson.”
It’s a French word meaning a “shiver” or “thrill.”
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t happen with every song.
A sudden change in volume.
A new instrument joining in.
An unexpected harmony.
The chorus you’ve been waiting for.
A voice you love.
Shifts and build-ups like these in the music can lead to strong emotional reactions.
What’s more, the same song may give one person goosebumps while another person barely feels a thing.
That’s because how music moves us also depends on our own experiences and tastes.
What Happens in the Brain When You Hear a Song You Love?
Goosebumps from music have also been studied by neuroscientists.
A research group at McGill University in Canada and elsewhere has reported that dopamine, which is involved in the brain’s reward system, plays a role when we feel intense pleasure while listening to music we love.
Dopamine is sometimes described as the “pleasure chemical,” but in reality it does much more: it’s a neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation, learning, and anticipation.
Not only rewards tied directly to survival, like food, but even
“a combination of sounds,”
an abstract stimulus, can activate the reward system in our brains.
That’s a fascinating point when we think about music and the human brain.
Is Your Brain Enjoying Itself Even “Before” the Goosebumps?
Even more intriguing, the single most moving moment in the music isn’t the only thing that matters.
When it’s a song you love, you’ll often find yourself thinking,
“The chorus is coming up.”
“That voice is about to come in.”
“Here comes that sound.”
Sound familiar?
Research has shown that when we feel intense pleasure from music, the reward system is involved not only at the peak moment but also in the anticipation just before it.
In other words, the process may go something like this:
We listen to the music
↓
We predict what comes next
↓
We anticipate that “it’s almost here”
↓
The music we were waiting for arrives
↓
It leads to intense pleasure and goosebumps
That may be the experience we’re actually having.
That’s why a song we’ve heard before can move us again and again.
In fact, it may be precisely because we know the song that we get to enjoy “waiting for what comes next.”
When the Heart Moves, the Body Moves Too
Just from listening to music,
we get goosebumps.
Our heart rate changes.
Tears come.
Our heart feels full.
What we call “being moved” doesn’t happen only inside our heads.
Emotion and body aren’t separate from each other; when the heart is deeply stirred, the body responds in all sorts of ways too.
At La HEAD, too, we care not only about the treatment itself but about creating an environment that soothes all five senses, from our fully private room to the lighting, scents, and sounds.
We don’t relax through touch alone.
A pleasant scent.
Soft, calming light.
A quiet space.
And the sounds that reach our ears.
Even the stimuli we take in without a second thought are deeply connected to our mood and how our body feels.
The next time a favorite song gives you goosebumps, don’t skip straight to the next track. Take a moment to savor it.
“Your body is telling you that your heart has been moved.”
Thinking of it that way, even familiar music may sound a little different.
We look forward to welcoming you.