When listening to music, many people they repeat the same song over and over again until tired. While it may seem like they do it due to a lack of variety, neuroscience explains that this habit could be related to the way the brain anticipates what it already knows and enjoys.
A study published in Nature Neuroscience analyzed what happened in the brain while several people listened to music that caused them intense pleasure. Researchers found that the release of dopamine did not appear only during the moment of maximum emotion.
On the contrary, they observed a greater participation of the caudate nucleus during the anticipation process. At the peak of pleasure, for its part, the nucleus accumbens intervened more strongly, a region closely related to reward processing.
Repeating a song several times is linked to the process of anticipation. (Illustrative image generated with AI)
Read also: Psychology says that people who always pay in cash have a key skill over those who use applications
Why do we want to listen to the same song again?
When a person knows a song almost by heart, they know the moment when the chorus will arrive, a change of rhythm or that part that generates a special emotion. For neuroscience, this capacity for anticipation may be one of the reasons that lead to listen to the same song several times.
According to another study, the reward value that music acquires is related to the interaction between the nucleus accumbens and regions of the auditory cortex that process sounds and musical patterns. Furthermore, the work showed that these circuits participate even when listening to a song for the first time.
However, when it comes to a familiar topic, previous experience allows generate more precise expectations about what is to come. Therefore, playing a favorite song again can be a simple way to relive an emotional experience whose journey we already know completely.
The brain enjoys both anticipating and listening
However, this does not mean that you always look for predictable music. According to research, part of musical pleasure arises precisely from the game between what is expected and the little surprises that appear throughout a song.
Many times, the appeal of music lies between what is already known and the surprises that appear. (Illustrative image generated with AI)
Read also: A study says that boys who learned to play an instrument in their childhood improved a key life skill
Thus, listening to a song over and over again does not necessarily represent a lack of interest to discover new music. It can also be a way to get back to an experience that is already known to generate pleasure: the route is known, the favorite moments are anticipated and the brain knows what reward to expect.
