frisson (and music that gives us the chills)

[underused]

frisson
a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill

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Frisson is an old word, but people are talking about it in a new(ish) context: musical frisson.

Researchers at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital determined that “even the anticipation of pleasurable music induces dopamine release” resulting in a galvanic skin response (the chills). It's the same kind of thrill we get from food, drugs, and sex.

According to neuroscientist Dr. Robert Zatorre:

“This is the first demonstration that an abstract reward such as music can lead to dopamine release. Abstract rewards are largely cognitive in nature, and this study paves the way for future work to examine non-tangible rewards that humans consider rewarding for complex reasons."

In other words, they want to figure out why our brains are rewarding us for something not (yet) demonstrably tied to survival.

Not everyone experiences musically-induced frisson, but studies suggest it’s more than half of us. There's even a Reddit group for people to share their most shiver-worthy recordings.

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Have you felt musical frisson? When?
Is there a song or recording that gives you a charge?

Comments

Re: My (partial) Frisson Playlist; more may follow...

[full_metal_ox]

I hadn't time to sift through the entire movie to find an optimum clip; as a leitmotif, of course the passage gains force with repetition. Some better samples occur at 14:27-15:15 (one of the heroes recognizes a fellow resistance member, who leads him to a rebel hideout) and 20:09-21:16 (the hero in question learns that the comrade who held off the bad guy and saved his life died in the effort.)

It comes to fruition, waxing into a triumphal fanfare, at 1:27:01-end, as the three surviving heroes carry off their fallen and rebels rally from all quarters to join their cause.