Dunbar R I M, Kaskatis Kostas, MacDonald Ian, Barra Vinnie
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK.
Evol Psychol. 2012 Oct 22;10(4):688-702. doi: 10.1177/147470491201000403.
It is well known that music arouses emotional responses. In addition, it has long been thought to play an important role in creating a sense of community, especially in small scale societies. One mechanism by which it might do this is through the endorphin system, and there is evidence to support this claim. Using pain threshold as an assay for CNS endorphin release, we ask whether it is the auditory perception of music that triggers this effect or the active performance of music. We show that singing, dancing and drumming all trigger endorphin release (indexed by an increase in post-activity pain tolerance) in contexts where merely listening to music and low energy musical activities do not. We also confirm that music performance results in elevated positive (but not negative) affect. We conclude that it is the active performance of music that generates the endorphin high, not the music itself. We discuss the implications of this in the context of community bonding mechanisms that commonly involve dance and music-making.
众所周知，音乐能引发情感反应。此外，长期以来人们一直认为音乐在营造社区感方面发挥着重要作用，尤其是在小规模社会中。音乐实现这一点的一种机制可能是通过内啡肽系统，并且有证据支持这一说法。我们以疼痛阈值作为中枢神经系统内啡肽释放的检测指标，探讨是音乐的听觉感知触发了这种效应，还是音乐的主动表演触发了这种效应。我们发现，在仅仅听音乐和低能量音乐活动不会触发内啡肽释放的情况下，唱歌、跳舞和击鼓都会触发内啡肽释放（以内啡肽释放后活动时的疼痛耐受性增加为指标）。我们还证实，音乐表演会导致积极（而非消极）情绪的提升。我们得出结论，是音乐的主动表演产生了内啡肽带来的兴奋感，而非音乐本身。我们在通常涉及舞蹈和音乐制作的社区联系机制背景下讨论了这一结论的意义。
