Can music literally change the way we see the world?

Jolij and Meurs had their test subjects perform a task in which they had to identify happy and sad smileys while listening to happy or sad music. Music turned out to have a great influence on what the subjects saw: smileys that matched the music were identified much more accurately. And even when no smiley at all was shown, the subjects often thought they recognized a happy smiley when listening to happy music and a sad one when listening to sad music.

And:

“Our research results suggest that the brain builds up expectations not just on the basis of experience but on your mood as well.’

Source: Science Daily

Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.

Related posts:

Does your personality determine the way you use music?

Does country music increase suicide rates?

Do we prefer the “original” version of a song because it’s better or just because it came first?