"Goose": How is the music and physiology

Photo Mitchel Jones / CC

Last month Colver Mitchell (Mitchell Colver), a graduate student at the University of Utah, wrote for the magazine The Conversation interesting material about where there is the famous "goose bumps" when listening to music. We have studied it and decided to look into what kind of phenomenon and why it occurs.

What we call the ants, you can be called in different ways: one feels "a chill on the back," someone that there is a "goose bumps" and the hairs on the arms stand on end. Usually we associate these feelings with fear or strong emotion unpleasant, but in the case of music, the feeling is compared rather with "emotional fever." He was even given a special name - frisson (frisson), which translated from French means "trembling", "shudder»

. Frisson - pleasant feeling, and music - one of the main reasons for its occurrence. However, not only - in addition to the music creeps can be called a work of art, a touching scene in the movie, and even a natural phenomenon (no, we are not talking about a situation where you just have a cold in the freezing wind)

. Studies have shown that about two thirds of the population experiencing a pleasant shiver from time to time -. To be precise, this effect subject to 55 to 86 percent of the population

A Reddit users even created on the website page, which are divided into triggers that cause " goose ". Among the most sentimental commercials there are marked, in particular, US singer Lady Gaga the national anthem at the opening of Super Cup 2016, and fan-made trailer for the original trilogy of Star voyn.Tak what is a goose? Scientists study this effect is already almost half a century, but it still far raises more questions than answers. Researchers still have not managed to solve the phenomenon of tingling to the end, but numerous experiments have shown that frisson, as a rule, is the body's response to a dramatic change in the environment, especially in the music we listen to.

That is, it's not so much the beauty of music, but in its contrast - like our skin and brain are equally responsive to different in nature changes, whether it is "cold-hot", "peace-danger" (from their sensations, however, unpleasant), and the contrast in the music.

However, science is still genuinely do not know why the result of this "chill", our skin is covered with "goose bumps." Some scholars suggest that the "goose bumps" - an evolutionary vestige left over from our distant (and hairy) ancestors

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Vinyl player Onkyo CP-1050

So they warmed the body, creating an endothermic layer of warm air around the skin directly under the scalp. If rapid change in temperature (for example, when the breath of cool wind on a hot day) muscle contraction in the hair follicle temporarily lifts and then lowers the hairs on the skin, providing this protective warm layer. With the invention of clothing, and a decrease in the need for such hair thermoregulation has disappeared, but the reflex remained.

Who and when the music "run goose?" The answer to this question is decided to find a professor of social psychology at the University of East Washington Amani El-Alayli ( Amani El-Alayli). He and a team of researchers, including the author of the article Mitchell Colver, suggested that a man deeply immersed in thoughts of music are more likely to experience a frisson as the trigger have a more powerful influence. In addition, scientists have suggested that this effect is most often seen in people with a certain type of personality.

As part of the experiment participants have connected them to a special device, the registration galvanic skin reflex, namely the change in the electrical resistance of human skin at physiological arousal, and offered listened fragments of different pieces of music.

To investigate the following compositions were chosen:

• The first two minutes and 11 seconds of Bach "St. John Passion: Part 1 (Herr, unser Herrscher)», the time of the entry of the choir < The first two minutes and 18 seconds, "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra №1: II» Chopin
• The first 53 sekunly lyrics Air Supply «Making Love Out of Nothing At All» English duo
• The first three minutes and 21 seconds works of Vangelis «Mythodea: Movement 6»
• The first two minutes of the works of Hans Zimmer «Oogway ascends»
  While listening to these works, participants clicked a small button every time you feel on the skin "goose bumps." Analyzing the results, the researchers came to two conclusions:
  
  1. Frisson can really be called music. Highlights compositions correspond to the states when the participant reported on the emergence of "pins and needles" touch of a button.
  
  2. The greatest chance of felt frisson are people who are open to new experiences. This helped fix the special tests that the subjects were before the experiment. Each of the participants took several tests, fixing the different character traits, but the study found the greatest relationship was tingling with the new openness.
  
  
  
  Photo Ninac26 / CC
  
  This characteristic is studied by scientists for a long time. For example, studies show that people with a similar ability to have an unusually imaginative, and appreciate the beauty of nature, looking for new experiences, often immersed in their feelings and love variety in life. The results of earlier studies also confirm the relationship frissona appearance of "openness to experience»
  
  . However, just "open" for the appearance of little ants. The study, which was attended by the author of the material Mitchell Colver (its results are published in the journal "Psychology of Music" April 27, 2016), showed that it is important not just to take a new and thoughtlessly listen - people who are intellectually immersed in the music, feel the "goose bumps" more frequent and severe.
  
  By "intelligent immersion" refers to the cognitive components of "openness to experience." - Such as predicting how a melody will develop, or view images
  
  
  
  Small showroom Audiomanii per m. Electrozavodskaya
  
  From myself I will add briefly: on our own (unscientific, but fairly extensive) experience chills and are very dependent on how and on what music is heard. Think of their emotions at a symphony concert or presentation favorite rock band - sensations experienced there, hardly be compared with the situation when you hear your favorite tune on TV or on the radio - even if you are trying to listen carefully and attentively
  
  . Unfortunately, we do not know on what and how to listen to music as the participants in the experiment. But sure - it was better than the sound quality, the greater was the probability to experience the pleasure of listening to - regardless of the emotional state and cognitive abilities test
  
  . That is why those who want to feel the goose, is, first of all, think about finding your favorite songs in high quality (that is why it is important that we talked about in several editions of the podcast "Sound" - 1, 2).
  < br> And also do not forget about the equipment - to experience new dimensions of sound, not necessarily to buy the flagship stereo system: it is enough to choose a suitable player, quality headphones and, if necessary, an amplifier and / or DAC (how to do it and what you can pick up the combination, we told here -. 1, 2)
  
  If you live in Moscow or St. Petersburg, just come with their entries in our showrooms, and we will try to prove that the goose can be tested and the new and unusual, and by listening to familiar songs, you seem to know by heart.
  
  Source: geektimes.ru/company/audiomania/blog/277874/