
People who get goosebumps from music have different brains (2017) - chha
https://www.indy100.com/article/music-goosebumps-some-people-science-research-emotions-psychology-study-harvard-7926781
======
40four
This is an interesting topic to me. I for sure get actual goosebumps from
moments in my favorite songs.

But come on man... this source is absolute garbage. It's not really a readable
article. Just a few sentences thrown together, in a very click-baity looking
website.

Here is an article, with a research paper attached.
[https://neurosciencenews.com/music-chills-
neuroscience-6167/](https://neurosciencenews.com/music-chills-
neuroscience-6167/)
[https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/11/6/884/2223400](https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/11/6/884/2223400)

And another better article [https://scroll.in/article/808773/why-do-only-some-
people-get...](https://scroll.in/article/808773/why-do-only-some-people-get-
skin-orgasms-from-listening-to-music)

------
syx
> _Plus these sensations can also be associated with memories linked to a
> certain song, which cannot be controlled in a laboratory setting._

First band I thought about after reading this sentence is Boards of Canada. In
an article published last year [1] they explain how music by the group is able
to inject memories of childhood and foresee the notion of the lost future.

I personally get goosebumps in almost every song by this band.

[1] [https://pitchfork.com/features/article/why-boards-of-
canadas...](https://pitchfork.com/features/article/why-boards-of-canadas-
music-has-the-right-to-children-is-the-greatest-psychedelic-album-of-the-90s/)

~~~
hestefisk
Agree. Boards of Canada are easily on my top 10 of best bands ever. Top of the
list is Mazzy Star, the absolute best of goose bump dream pop.

~~~
DyslexicAtheist
it took me a long time to get into BoC but the strange thing is that I never
get sick of them. there are very few bands that do that. (Mogwai does that too
or within the hibhop genre that would be The Roots, or Mos Def).

It seems that the quicker I like a band/song the quicker I also get sick of
it. And music that I have to get used to with passive listening - e.g. have
them playing in the background but not when running or driving then the longer
I like them. Some artists and albums have literally stayed with me for
decades. (e.g. The Roots _Illadelphia Halflife_ or _Things Fall Apart_
acompanied me when my kids were born, when I got my dog, when my dog died,
when I got married, when my kids left for university, ...). Not every band is
around that long or is able to adapt its music style to remain relevant (for
my taste) ...

I remember the times when I went to buy music at record stores and there was
no way of just purchasing the top 3 tracks from an album and skip the rest.
You either bought the whole album or you got a single but there was nothing in
between. Having shelled out the money I then wanted to make an effort to also
give those songs "a chance" that didn't immediately stick. And it was always
those more complex tunes that I ended up liking the most ...

~~~
mercer
Radiohead's discography has been this for me with almost every album. The most
jarring changes were between The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A: each time I
hated their 'new sound' at first and then eventually they became one of
_those_ albums that I just default to when I can't decide what else I might
want to listen to.

The closest analogue in movies, I suppose, are the Coen Brothers. I wish there
was a word for the feeling of listening to/watching/reading something,
disliking it, but knowing that you'll probably end up loving it.

~~~
DyslexicAtheist
huge radiohead fan here. I also think they have undergone a massive
transformation in style. as a fan it's challenging, but rewarding to follow
them. As you described your struggle with their constant changing I'm
currently struggling with their latest album. I'll probably end up listening
to it every day in a year or 2. It kind of "grows on you", doesn't it? Like a
pair of shoes that don't fit yet and after a time they are your favorite pair.

------
RobertRoberts
I think this kind of article appeals to egos, not science.

~~~
riskable
But we're all OK with that.

There's nothing wrong with upvoting a fun little article that gives you
goosebumps every now and again.

~~~
lawlessone
If this article gives you goosebumps see our next article about how that makes
you special.

~~~
mffnbs
This comment gave me goosebumps.

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Slimbo
Doesn't everyone get this sensation?

~~~
rmellow
I think many people understand this is as a figure of speech, not as literal
goosebumps.

edit: Yes, some people get literal goosebumps! Just highlighting there are two
groups here.

~~~
abathur
I was already coming here to comment (even before you said this) on how this
seems to rhyme with _picturing something in your mind 's eye_, which I always
grokked as being figurative speech.

I realized through my relationship with my partner and later a coworker that
some people picture things with extraordinary acuity (so much so that I can
trigger revolt or disgust by just describing something), but I thought they
were the special ones. It wasn't until I read about Derek Parfit having
aphantasia
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia))
that I realized I was sitting somewhere out in the long tail of human
experience.

~~~
jdashg
There are two axes here! Phantasia does not imply involuntary imagining! I
don't imagine/picture involuntarily, and for many many years I didn't
understand that most people _do_ involuntarily imagine what they hear.
Forbidden-while-eating topics are no longer a mystery to me.

~~~
abathur
Interesting.

My own mental model (sigh...) is that these are all roughly related to (if not
literal types of) the crossover/cross-polination (sigh...) that manifests in
synesthesia.

I think synesthesia is definitionally involuntary, but your statement did make
me go search "voluntary synesthesia", though I'm not done reading results yet.

I would guess it's a lot harder to identify people who can electively conjure
anything akin to what synesthetes experience. It probably feels less
distressing or noteworthy, happens less often, and would be a lot harder to
study...

------
nuclx
Some IDM tunes gave me shivers in the past, like Bola or Squarepusher. And
most noticably certain letter styles. Berlin graffiti from the late 90s, early
00s. DRM/BAD crews.

~~~
leetbulb
Same here, it's definitely not just music.

Edit: Thanks for giving me something new to listen to today :)

------
rzzzt
Musical goosebumps are also called frisson:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson)

~~~
leetbulb
I hate to link a sub, but there's a lot of material shared for invoking
frisson:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/frisson/](https://www.reddit.com/r/frisson/)

------
edjrage
I may be even more "special" (in the article's own words) since I can give
myself goosebumps at will. It's kinda like flexing a muscle, just on the back
of my head.

Funnily, I searched for "I can give myself goosebumps" for the first time just
a few days ago, and this[0] article popped out. Same website, identical title.
(Then I also searched for "music gives me goosebumps" and got the one posted
here.)

[0]: [https://www.indy100.com/article/if-you-can-give-yourself-
goo...](https://www.indy100.com/article/if-you-can-give-yourself-goosebumps-
brain-special-personality-openness-music-study-science-8245426)

~~~
0x38B
Interesting, I've always taken being able to do it for granted.

Usually do it without thinking when I'm very engaged in something and have an
intense thought.

------
osrec
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's live recordings can have that affect on me. I wonder
if it's similar for non-Urdu/Punjabi speakers:

[https://youtu.be/xxjKw7HZQEI](https://youtu.be/xxjKw7HZQEI)

~~~
bakul
I don’t understand most of the words in his qawwalis but yes. His singing was
out of this world. Like at the WOMAD festival in 1988:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIKmwVpOhQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIKmwVpOhQ)

------
gurkendoktor
I was wondering if this wasn't the same effect that ASMR exploits, but:

> ASMR aficionados make a distinction between ASMR and frisson, the goosebumps
> and tingles that can be produced by an amazing piece of music.

TIL! (I've never really tried ASMR, but I have a few songs that semi-reliably
trigger this "frisson".)

~~~
leetbulb
I listen to music all day while working that frequently triggers frisson.
However, I cannot stand ASMR, especially bodily noises including mouth stuff
like talking and lip smacking. That might just be Misophonia (TIL) though.

~~~
kerbobotat
I am the same. I have an irrational hatred of those wet-mouth whisper videos,
it makes my skin crawl but not in the same way as this article describes.

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mapcars
It doesn't have to do with being special it's just that music is touching
something very deep inside you. It depends both on the intensity of the music
and receptivity of the listener and can be developed.

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crankylinuxuser
Strangely enough, music can do this. But I can also do it just with a thought
as well. It takes about 30 seconds for the goosebumps to be visible

Not sure why. I just can.

------
salawat
The Rite of Spring.

Try not to riot.

[https://youtu.be/rP42C-4zL3w](https://youtu.be/rP42C-4zL3w)

Music can do funny things to people.

------
gubbrora
I get goosebumps by ideas. Reading this thread gave me goosebumps - although
I'll admit I consciously focused on helping it along.

------
jmpman
I don’t get frisson from music, but I do when I learn a new topic. Do others
not get that?

------
Kenji
I sometimes get goosebumps _before the song even starts in anticipation of the
song_ , just thinking of how it sounds.

I love music very much.

~~~
skinnymuch
Haha.

Also, I don’t remember if this is against HN protocol, but almost every
comment of yours is marked dead for the past 3 months except for like 4.

