They say music is universal, and it seems to be true since wherever we go, we see people listening, playing or dancing to it. We tend to think that music is larger than our cultural differences and shows the deeper connections between us.
But according to a recent study published in the Current Biology, music doesn't speak to everyone. There is a condition, the researchers argue, called "musical anhedonia". They say that those who have this condition may have few abilities to experience pleasure from music.
For the study, 30 people listened to the same, mostly classical music pieces. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire on how they felt about the music. At the same time, the researchers measured their heart rate and skin reaction, which are considered physiological measures of feelings.
According to the researchers, most of the people in the study got pleasure from the music. They had a quicker heartbeat and sweatedmore. However, a small number of them had very little and even no pleasant feeling while they were listening to the music. These people had none or very few of the physical signs which the others in the study experienced.
The researchers say that this means people have different abilities to enjoy music and that "there are people who specifically can't enjoy music at all"
To study the condition more deeply, another group of scientists, at Columbia University, US, researched brain activities. They found that the key is the blood flow to the reward system in the brain. People who got less pleasure from music had comparatively lower blood flow to areas involved in the reward system of the brain when they were listening to music.
The lower blood flow makes it more likely that the brain's "reward system" will be inactive. And it will produce less of the "pleasure chemical" dopamine. As a result, people get less pleasure from music.
If the research is correct, according to National Public Radio, there are simply people who just don't get music. They may get pleasure from many things, but a good tune isn't one of them.
