People with higher empathy levels view music as more than just an art form, with brain scans showing one significant difference, reports a new study. Share on Pinterest How empathic you are may change how you perceive music. Seeing something from someone else’s point of view is something that many people struggle with. But according to a study published in the journal Brain and Behavior, around 20 percent of the population is genetically predisposed to empathy. This trait allows people to react to stimuli and others’ emotions in a more sensitive and heightened way. Empathy is routinely divided into two. Emotional empathy is when a person is inclined to share the emotional burden of others, while cognitive empathy describes the potential to recognize and understand the feelings of others without having to ask out loud. Experts propose links between empathy and music, solidifying the theory that empathic people will opt for stimuli that produce relatable emotions rather than something more neutral. While the neurological origins of empathy have been well researched, a new study has become the first to show how the brains of highly empathic people process music in a similar way to social situations.

Empathy and music A study led by researchers at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found a marked neurological difference between low-empathy and high-empathy people when listening to music. Fifteen UCLA students were asked to undergo an MRI scan while listening to brief musical tones. A second experiment — this time using 20 students — carried out the same MRI scan but played music that was either familiar or completely new to them, as well as music that they liked or disliked. Each participant was subsequently asked to look at 28 questions that gave them various empathy-based scenarios, ranging from sympathy toward the misfortune of others to the ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They answered each statement using a five-point scale that went from “describes me very well” to “does not describe me at all.” After this, the scientists conducted a controlled comparison to establish the brain areas that were associated with empathy during music listening.

Music can activate the brain’s reward system Analysis of the MRI scans found commonalities between the two empathy levels. Those possessing high and low empathy both activated areas of the brain linked to auditory and sensory processing. But, highly empathic people showed an increase in activity in the dorsal striatum when a familiar song was played. This is a part of the brain’s reward system, suggesting that listening to recognizable music is more pleasurable for those who have more empathy. The research — which was published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience — also found that high-empathy people showed more activity in regions of the brain that are used to deal with social activities and understanding the behavior of others.