Question

psychology of music
musics power over your brain video: how does music affect our brain?
how music resonates in the brain - from harvard medicine magazine
why does music leave such an emotional impression on us in the first place? what is it about tones and timbres that, when organized in a precise manner, can make us swoon or sway?
whelan believes the answer lies partly in evolutionary biology. the earliest mammals, most of them likely nocturnal, had to rely on their hearing and sense of smell as defensive mechanisms — they were hyperfocused, hyperattentive. according to whelan, the modern experience of listening to live music can be viewed as a vestige of that primeval adaptation.
in a performance venue, \theres an incredible complex sound signature all around you,\ whelan says. \the brain has to sift through all the ambient noise in a concert hall. its a much more primitive form of listening compared to a focused conversation.\
these acoustic cues — just like the crescendo of an approaching predator — travel through the ear and into the temporal lobe, which parses the soundscape, identifies sounds, and tags their components as familiar or unfamiliar.
the salience of these sounds — whether a person responds to them emotionally and motivationally — influences the autonomic nervous system (ans), a network that controls certain involuntary processes like breathing and heart rate. the valence of the music, which signals whether the music feels positive, negative, or somewhere in between, influences the ans, too.
these factors are among the reasons why our heart rate goes up when we hear the infamous music from jaws, or why experimental music or heavy metal might make us feel uncomfortable if were not used to it.
how has music affected you throughout your life?
what is the scientific basis for our appreciation of music?
what role does the temporal lobe play when we listen to music?
why do we have certain involuntary responses to music?

Explanation:

The text discusses how music affects the brain from a psychological perspective, including evolutionary biology - related aspects, the role of the temporal lobe in processing music - related sounds, and how music influences the autonomic nervous system to cause involuntary responses.

Answer:

1. Music leaves an emotional impression partly due to evolutionary biology. Early mammals relied on hearing and smell for defense, and modern music - listening can be seen as a vestige of this adaptation.
2. The scientific basis for music appreciation involves the processing of sound cues by the ear and temporal lobe, and the influence on the autonomic nervous system.
3. The temporal lobe parses the soundscape, identifies sounds, and tags their components as familiar or unfamiliar when we listen to music.
4. We have certain involuntary responses to music because the salience and valence of music - related sounds influence the autonomic nervous system which controls involuntary processes like breathing and heart rate.