Most people today have a soundtrack to their everyday lives -- heavy beats for workouts and ambient sounds for work. According to a group of researchers, machine learning can be used to understand the way music influences our minds. The scientists' new paper suggests that it might be possible to reverse-engineer the physiological effects of music. RELATED: IS MUSIC THE ANSWER TO BETTER GRADES IN SCHOOL? In their new paper, researchers at the University of Southern California mapped out the way different factors in music, such as pitch, rhythm, and harmony, affect different types of brain activity, physiological reactions, and emotions.