Who doesn’t like to listen to music? Whether in public transport, by car, at home or on the street, everything is good to change your mind. For many people, music is seen as soothing and allows to escape.
Studies have already shown that music is beneficial for the brain. It can, for example, soothe a state of stress. Music also intervenes in the secretion of dopamine, the pleasure hormone. Depending on the context, music can play in favor of neurophysiological, cardiovascular and respiratory effects. The list of the benefits of music on the human being is quite long, but what we must remember is the ability, during a musical activity, to be more resistant to brain attacks or psychological distress. But what about electronic music? Does it stimulate the brain more than in other musical genres?
Electronic music is very vast. Techno, house, deep house, psytrance, acid, etc. It contains a wealth of genre and sub-genre allowing to vary the pleasures. Fans of this music often experience well-being associated with psychomotor effects. But why is that?
Simply because there are no or few lyrics, we will focus more on the sounds produced by the music itself, like the bass for example. These musical genres have the particularity of being frequently repetitive, which causes a state of trance. This induced second state will make us release dopamine and make us eager to move.
When the music has a soft and calm connotation with few instruments, the adrenaline present in us will decrease to make room for relaxation. However, when the sound is strong, intense as with techno, our adrenaline levels will skyrocket. Therefore, this musical style often makes you want to dance, because the body is supplied with energy via positive stimuli transmitted to the brain. Although often connected to the world of night, it is not only in a nightclub or rave party that we can put our energy to good use. Some listen to electronic music to perform better at work. The heavy bass and the different sounds and tones give us pleasure and encourage us to go forward and improve productivity at work.
So there is a double issue in electronic music. It relaxes and stimulates at the same time. If this combination is possible, it is because there is an association between repetitive moments, allowing to be calm, which will be mixed with tensions and more dynamic moments where generally the sound will become stronger, more intense (called «drop»). Thus, the sound appears as a lullaby, allowing us to be transported to another world delivered from all fear. This state of well-being goes back to the first communities, at that point everyone is in symbiosis with the music. A bit like primitive societies during ancestral rites, this repetitive side of music puts us in a sort of trance.
Finally, there is the issue of the “drugs”. It is not uncommon for seeing electronic music associated with this vice. Of course, consumption can accentuate effects, making the feeling of comfort in an extreme state. However, it can play the opposite role by disrupting the secretion of neuromediators (neurons acting on another neuron chemically). In practice, one can be confronted with psychosis or memory problems. Music is already a drug on itself, so it is quite possible to simply settle for it and get all the necessary benefits out of the music.
There is ultimately a strong psychological character reflected in electronic music. Just like meditation, electronic music has its ways of stimulating the brain via the positive waves that are influenced by the music. Like Tibetan spiritual songs, electronic music plays a protective role. Attaining a state of full consciousness is the goal, that state of absolute well-being.