‘Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain).

The name derives from the Greek word for “delight” (ἡδονισμός hēdonismos from ἡδονή hēdonē “pleasure”, cognate with English sweet + suffix -ισμός -ismos “ism”).

Ethical hedonism is the idea that all people have the right to do everything in their power to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure possible to them. It is also the idea that every person’s pleasure should far surpass their amount of pain. Ethical hedonism is said to have been started by a student of Socrates, Aristippus of Cyrene. He held the idea that pleasure is the highest good.’

Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism

Fair enough, but what does it have to do with music?

Uhm, if you’re already here, your pleasure must be determined by music to some extent…

Oh, well…

Hold on, it’s scientifically justified. Apparently.

‘Music, an abstract stimulus, can arouse feelings of euphoria and craving, similar to tangible rewards that involve the striatal dopaminergic system. Using the neurochemical specificity of raclopride positron emission tomography scanning, combined with psychophysiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity, we found endogenous dopamine release in the striatum at peak emotional arousal during music listening. To examine the time course of dopamine release, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging with the same stimuli and listeners, and found a functional dissociation: the caudate was more involved during the anticipation and the nucleus accumbens was more involved during the experience of peak emotional responses to music. These results indicate that intense pleasure in response to music can lead to dopamine release in the striatal system. Notably, the anticipation of an abstract reward can result in dopamine release in an anatomical pathway distinct from that associated with the peak pleasure itself. Our results help to explain why music is of such high value across all human societies.’

Source: Nature.com, http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v14/n2/abs/nn.2726.html

Woohoo, you are not a freak! Congratulations!

Fancy the topic? Read more:

• Favourite music evokes same feelings as good food or drugs
• Brain’s music pleasure zone identified