Music might just be the food of love, a study found. Feelings of interest and attraction among single men and women increased significantly if music was playing in the background at their first meeting compared with no music, according to a report in the current issue of Psychology of Music.

Impressions of other character traits, such as openness and friendliness, also got higher ratings with background music.

First conversations are important and often indicate if a couple has a future relationship, the study said. Music affects neurochemical systems in the brain that may enhance the interpersonal impressions formed during those conversations, it said.

Japanese scientists recruited 32 students, 16 men and 16 women in their early 20s, for the study, which simulated a Japanese gokon party for konkatsu, or finding a marriage partner. Half were assigned to experiments with music and half without music. Four additional students, two men and two women who weren’t known to the subjects, acted as visitors.

The experiments were conducted at two tables, each with two male and two female subjects and two opposite-sex visitors who sat and talked informally. After about 20 minutes, the visitors switched tables and conversed with four new subjects. In the music experiments, which were conducted separately, selections of rock, rap and classical music played from a small speaker on the table as visitors entered and left the room, and during the conversations.