april2018

hen researchers blocked the production of natu-

ral opioid substances, people no longer liked their favorite

songs as much

Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll has been a preoccupation of

generations of young people since the 1960 decade, while

even Shakespeare wrote: “If music be the food of love,

play on”.

Now scientists have discovered one reason why they seem

to go so well together.

For the same chemical system in the brain that produc-

es feelings of pleasure as a result of having sex, taking

recreational drugs or eating tasty food is also stimulated by

listening to a favorite tune.

To test the theory, the researchers found a way to tempo-

rarily block the natural opioid substances produced when

we are having a good time.

Dr. Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist at McGill University

in Canada as well as a musician and record producer, said:

“The impressions our participants shared with us after the

experiment were fascinating.

“One said: ‘I know this is my favorite song but it doesn’t

feel like it usually does’.

“Another admitted: ‘It sounds pretty, but it’s not doing

anything for me’.”

He added that this was the first time it had been shown

conclusively that opioids in the brain were “directly in-

volved in musical pleasure”.

Alcohol, sex, gambling and other activities that stimulate

this system can lead to damaging addictive behavior in a

similar way to recreational drugs.

It is hoped that understanding the processes involved could

help lead to new ways to treat addiction.

This again harks back to Shakespeare. The full sentence

above, spoken by the apparently heartbroken Duke Orsino

in Twelfth Night, is: “If music be the food of love, play on,

/ Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, / The appetite may

sicken, and so die.”

The researchers said the ability of music to affect our

emotions so strongly suggested humans have evolved over

a long period to like it.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers

said their findings “add to the growing body of evidence

for the evolutionary biological substrates of music”.

A recent study found cheese contains a chemical contained

in addictive drugs, giving a reason why some foods are

more addictive than others.

In addition, in other research, music during exercise was

also found to help people exercise harder by releasing

chemicals that make people feel less tired.

Sex, drugs, and rock ’n roll: What do they all have in com-

mon? Each can affect the brain in a similar way.

New research suggests that music creates pleasure in part

by acting upon the brain’s opioid system. This neurochem-

ical pathway involves the release of substances natural-

ly produced by the brain that are structurally similar to

opiates like heroin. These chemicals are also involved in

pleasure derived from eating sugary foods and activities

like sex and gambling.

For the study published February 9 in the journal Scientific

Reports, 17 participants listened to music they enjoy in the

laboratory at McGill University. On one day, they did so

after taking naltrexone, a drug that binds to opioid recep-

tors and blocks the activity of opiates (it is also used to

treat people addicted to heroin and alcohol). On a second

day, they listened to music they like after taking an inac-

tive placebo.

SEXY GLAM

MAGAZINE - APRIL 2018