Why Music Makes Us Feel According to Artificial Intelligence

Your heart beats faster, palms sweat and part of your brain called the Heschl's gyrus lights up like a Christmas tree. Chances are, you've never thought about what happens to your brain and body when you listen to music in such a detailed way. But it's a question that has puzzled scientists for decades: Why does something as abstract as music provoke such a consistent response? In a new study, a team of USC researchers, with the help of artificial intelligence, investigated how music affects listeners' brains, bodies and emotions. The research team looked at heart rate, galvanic skin response (or sweat gland activity), brain activity and subjective feelings of happiness and sadness in a group of volunteers as they listened to three pieces of unfamiliar music.