Neurochemical hits
Many of us will have heard the old adage – originally a quote from English playwright William Congreve’s 1697 play, The Mourning Bride – that ‘Musick has charms to soothe the savage Breast’.
But according to Your Brain on Art authors, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, when considered within the burgeoning field of neuroaesthetics, the arts have provable restorative powers that go beyond their more recognisable attributes to calm and soothe our troubled souls.
As Magsamen explains: ‘The arts trigger the release of neurochemicals, hormones and endorphins that offer you an emotional release. When you experience virtual reality, read poetry or fiction, see a film, listen to a piece of music or dance you are biologically changed. There is a neurochemical exchange that can lead to what Aristotle called catharsis, or a release of emotion that leaves you more connected to yourself and others afterwards.’
This happens because the chemicals ebbing and flowing through our brain and nervous system – including serotonin (wellbeing), dopamine (elation), endorphins (reduced pain), oxytocin (happiness), cortisol (stress) and nitric oxide (enhanced vascular flow) – are triggered or reduced as different parts of our brain respond to particular movements, colours, shapes, rhythms, smells or textures. Ross, as she tells it, has even carried a tuning fork in her bag because the resonant sounds of the notes C and G, when combined, can trigger oxytocin and truly soothe those savage breasts.
