Observations placeholder
Music, drumming, pain relief and endorphins
Identifier
012361
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Evol Psychol. 2012 Oct 22;10(4):688-702.
Performance of music elevates pain threshold and positive affect: implications for the evolutionary function of music.
Dunbar RI1, Kaskatis K, MacDonald I, Barra V. 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. robin.dunbar@psy.ox.ac.uk
It is well known that music arouses emotional responses. In addition, it has long been thought to play an important role in creating a sense of community, especially in small scale societies. One mechanism by which it might do this is through the endorphin system, and there is evidence to support this claim.
Using pain threshold as an assay for CNS endorphin release, we ask whether it is the auditory perception of music that triggers this effect or the active performance of music.
We show that singing, dancing and drumming all trigger endorphin release (indexed by an increase in post-activity pain tolerance) in contexts where merely listening to music and low energy musical activities do not.
We also confirm that music performance results in elevated positive (but not negative) affect.
We conclude that it is the active performance of music that generates the endorphin high, not the music itself. We discuss the implications of this in the context of community bonding mechanisms that commonly involve dance and music-making.
PMID: 23089077
The source of the experience
PubMedConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Pain [physical]Symbols
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
Extreme painSuppressions
DancingEndorphins
Exercising and keeping fit
Listening to beating sounds
Listening to music
Singing and humming