Can music really give you an orgasm?
Hi Everyone, Crystal here for DNews.
We all listen to music because we like it.
The right music can change our mood, help us prolong a workout, and even increase teamwork
and comradery when we’re working with other people.
But some of us experience music a little differently.
Ever feel a chill down your spine or get goosebumps after hearing a particular tune?
Some people call this creepy physiological response a “music orgasm” and they aren’t
entirely wrong.
“Music orgasms” are often reported as a prickly, pleasurable sensation that suffuses
the body in response to music or other auditory stimuli.
And studies like those performed by scientists at McGill University have revealed that this
response and autonomic arousal is due to release of endorphins, the neurotransmitter dopamine,
and activation of the midbrain region usually referred to as our “pleasure center”.
These three things also happen during sexual orgasm.
So is it fair to say that music can actually induce orgasms in humans?
Well, the population is large and variability is great, so I wouldn’t say it’s impossible
… but it is improbable.
The physiological reaction commonly reported does not share enough of the classical characteristics
of orgasm to be considered the same thing, and claims that “music orgasms” are equivalent
to cocaine use and mastubation are likely overblown.
but some of you may be wondering “how is a “music orgasm” different from Autonomous
Sensory Meridian Response?”
(ASMR) and that is a great question that science has not yet been able to answer.
Frankly, not enough is known about the anecdotally reported pleasurable effects of ASMR to be
able to make a scientifically meaningful comparison.
On the surface though, they do seem to be similar phenomena leading to the question
of why we have these responses at all.
but at this point science can only speculate.
As one author of an excellent review on “The Neurochemistry of Music” clearly states:
‘Music does not have the clear survival benefit associated with food or sex, nor does
it display the addictive properties associated with drugs of abuse.“ So why would humans
evolve a pleasurable response to it?
We don’t know, but it may be as simple as a response of pattern recognition or to unexpected
changes in a perceived pattern.
Either way, while researching this story I came across an article that asserted “who
needs sex and drugs when you’ve got Rachmaninoff?”
and to that I say quite clearly: “I can live without Piano Concerto No. 2, but sex
and coffee are non-negotiable.”
As pleasurable as music can be, there are those rare few individuals who do NOT like
music at all.
Anthony explores that strange scientific phenomenon in this video