Music increase altruism through regulating the secretion of steroid hormones and peptides

Full text

Music increase altruism through regulating the secretion of steroid
hormones and peptides
Hajime Fukui
⇑
, Kumiko Toyoshima
Department of Education, Nara University of Education, Nara, Japan
article info
Article history:
Received 28 June 2014
Accepted 29 September 2014
Available online xxxx
abstract
Music is well known for its effect on human behavior especially of their bonding and empathy towards
others. Music provokes one’s emotion and activates mirror neurons and reward system. It also regulates
social hormones such as steroid hormones or peptides, and increases empathy, pro-sociality and altru-
ism. As a result, it improves one’s reproductive success.
Ó2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Charles Darwin [1] noted the mysterious quality that lies in
man’s capacity to create music [2]. Indeed, what is the true value
of music, which fascinates many scientists, if it does not have an
adaptive function or survival value? The ability of music to absorb
and captivate people remains an enigma.
The main function of music has been thought to unite society
which is vital for basic human life [3]. In fact, music is used in var-
ious forms including dancing to harmonize groups and emotions
and prepare for cooperative activity [4]. Music may possess survi-
val benefits through ‘‘the socialization of emotions’’ [5]. Music
seems to have a function to reinforce social bonding by sharing
emotional experiences [6]. Primates used physical grooming to
strengthen social bonding, which trigger endorphin activation in
the central nervous system [7]. There are reports that group sing-
ing release endorphin, thus singing is to mimic the neural effects
of physical grooming in primates [8–11].
Pro-social behavior and empathy are closely linked on a concep-
tual level. The evidence shows that sharing emotions of others
(empathy) is associated with neural structures’ activation (mirror
neuron) [12]. Music is renowned for its increase in empathy thus
resulting in pro-social behavior. Factually, music does strengthen
one’s coping skill and sympathy [13,14]. Empathy has grown in
order to enhance human survival and propagating adaptation,
which was quintessential for human society to evolve into the
one we have now.
The hypothesis
We propose that musical behavior (listening and performing)
increase altruism by adjusting the secretion of steroid hormones
(testosterone, estrogen and cortisol) and peptides (oxytocin and
arginine vasopressin) ultimately facilitating reproductive success.
Evaluation of the hypothesis
Music and emotion, limbic system
Emotions induced by music have attracted the attention of
many researchers [15]. Notoriously, music has the ability to
strongly affect one’s emotion and sometimes even control them
[16], though science has yet to provide a satisfying explanation
for this phenomenon.
Recent studies have revealed that the emotions evoked by
music can modulate activity in all the limbic and paralimbic brain
structures which deeply contribute to emotions [17], and that
those emotions tend to be stronger than everyday feelings or
moods; therefore, they are registered as a strong experience [18]
and are associated with particular brain activity [19].
Music and mirror neurons
Emotions induced by music are thought to be associated with
the action of mirror neurons and the limbic system [20]. Auditory
mirror neurons system is vital for understanding auditory action
and evolution of language. Some evidences support the indication
of the human mirror neuron system mediating musical experi-
ences [21,22]. Studies on musicians and dancers have reported that
the internal experience of music modulates the activity of the
human mirror neuron system [23]. Recent researches using func-
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2014.09.023
0306-9877/Ó2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
⇑
Corresponding author at: Department of Education, Nara University of
Education, Takabatake, Nara 630-8528, Japan. Tel./fax: +81 742 27 9257.
E-mail address: fukuih@nara-edu.ac.jp (H. Fukui).
Medical Hypotheses xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Medical Hypotheses
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mehy
Please cite this article in press as: Fukui H, Toyoshima K. Music increase altruism through regulating the secretion of steroid hormones and peptides.Med
Hypotheses (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2014.09.023

tional neuroimaging have discovered that chill-inducing music lis-
tening activates mirror neuron system, which is closely related to
empathy [22]. Chill-inducing music listening particularly elicits
limbic system especially reward system, Nucleus accumbens, ven-
tral tegmental area, hypothalamus, insular cortex, and orbitofron-
tal cortex, to be operated [20].
Mirror neurons and empathy
Mirror neurons are believed to have a relationship with empa-
thy, one of brain functions that are more sophisticated. It has been
suggested that the emotional response caused by listening to a
musical performance by other human beings are also considered
as an empathic process [22,24,25].
Music and empathy, altruism
Empathy is a central mechanism provoked by music-induced
emotions [26]. Furthermore, it is believed that human altruism is
engendered by empathy [27]. Having taken the mentioned
researches’ discovery, music, which causes dramatic emotional
changes, suggests having a significant effect on altruistic behavior
too.
Several studies have been conducted on music and altruism, or
pro-social behavior [28,29]. Rhythmic activity with drums with a
partner in primary school elicits a specific human motivation to
synchronize [30]. In addition, music making, including joint sing-
ing, encourages participants to maintain a collective intention
and shared goal of vocalizing and moving together in time, thereby
effectively satisfying the intrinsic human desire to share emotions,
experiences, and activities with others [28]. Studies have indicated
that music can mediate several behaviors related tangentially to
altruism, aggression [31], and spending money at the school cafe-
teria [32].
Listening to music can be a highly rewarding experience for
humans. Studies have shown that a positive mood encourages
pro-social behaviors. There have also been reports that both posi-
tive and negative moods promote altruism and pro-social beha-
viors [33,34]. It has been found, for example, that audiotapes can
induce positive moods; thereby increasing altruism thus rising in
pro-social behavior (economic games) [35]. Pro-social songs were
associated with a significant increase in tipping behavior [36].
Music, hormones and genes
There is strong evidence that empathy has biochemical and
neurological grounds such as limbic system [25]. Steroid hormones
(STs) affect social behavior [37,38] such as reciprocity [39] and par-
ental care [40].
It has been found that music listening regulates STs: cortisol (C),
testosterone (T), estrogen (E) [41,42] and has a notable effect on
dopamine, one of the neurotransmitters, to be produced [43].It
is believed that music confers neuronal plasticity and is involved
in the learning process and readjustment. An example is the
response of brain cells to musical stimuli. This effect is considered
to be persistent, although the precise mechanism remains
unknown [44–46].
STs may hold the key to unlock the mechanism that underlies
the effect of music on neurons because they confer neuronal plas-
ticity. In particular, T and E are deeply involved in brain cell regen-
eration, restoration, and protection. They also have strong
connections with recognition, memory, and emotion thus may be
associated with mental disorders [41]. STs have each been impli-
cated in complex social behavior [47–49].
On the other hand, oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin
(AVP) are deeply connected to social-emotional, social cognitive
and empathetic behaviors [48,50,51]. There are many reports that
OT and oxytocin receptor (OTR) influence social behaviors [e.g.
[52]]. It is particularly noteworthy that OT increase pair-bonding
and partner preference in Prairie vole [53] whereas for human, it
has no such effect [54] but increases phenotypic-cooperation
[55]. OTR can be found in human brain areas such as amygdala,
hypothalamus, subgenual cingulate cortex and olfactory bulb,
which are linked with emotion and social behavior [56].
There are not enough researches to be conducted to establish a
firm conclusion about the relationship between OT or AVP and
music. However, OT level had increased when patients had listened
to music after they had had open-heart surgery [57]. Additionally,
Williams Syndrome patients show an intense interest in music and
are often pro-social, and their OT level is higher than controlled
group [58]. OT, though not vasopressin, increases altruism [59].It
is still inconclusive but highly probable that AVP modulates musi-
cal working memory indirectly by influencing mood, attention and
arousal [60].
T is implicated in tradeoffs relevant to pair-bonding, and OT and
arginine vasopressin (AVP) are positively tied to social bonding in
various species [48]. For male, music listening decreases T level
while lowering T accelerates OT effect [48].
Several studies investigated the development of sexually
dimorphic AVP systems in mammals and other vertebrates, and
the role gonadal hormones played in their regulation [61].Itis
hypothesized that androgens, via actions of their receptors, have
roles in the organization and modulation of the AVP parvocellular
sexually dimorphic system [62].
The relationship between arginine vasopressin receptor (AVPR)
and sociality has been illustrated in several reports. Recent studies
demonstrated associations between microsatellites (RS1 and RS3)
in the promoter region of arginine vasopressin receptor 1A and
social behavior [63,64] and music [65]. A coalition has been found
between AVP/AVPR and human musical ability [42,50,58,66–69].
Music is cogently related to steroid receptor polymorphism and
arginine-vasopressin (AVP) receptor polymorphism [42,70]. More-
over, steroid receptors: glucocorticoid receptor, androgen receptor,
estrogen receptor, are distributed widely over brain: hypothala-
mus, hippocampus, amygdala.
Above dates and figures suggest that music regulates social hor-
mones: C, T, E, OT and AVP, which activates brain areas such as pre-
frontal cortex and limbic system, closely associated with empathy
and sociality. This activation then lowers egocentric and aggressive
action resulting in pro-social behaviors. Consequently, music is
thought to have enhanced human reproductive success.
Conflict of interest
Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest in this study.
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Hypotheses (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2014.09.023

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Please cite this article in press as: Fukui H, Toyoshima K. Music increase altruism through regulating the secretion of steroid hormones and peptides.Med
Hypotheses (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2014.09.023