http://maxwell.bridgew.edu/login?url=http://atoz.ebsco.com.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/link.asp?id=3490&sid=156676396&rid=532938&urlSource=AtoZ&lang=en
... Philosophers and biologists have ... for centuries [noted] that humans are universally drawn to music. It consoles us when we are sad, pumps us up in happier times and bonds us to others ...
Some scientists conclude that music's influence may be a chance event, arising from its ability to hijack brain systems built for other purposes such as language, emotion and movement. ... But as a result of that serendipity, music seems to offer a novel system of communication rooted in emotions rather than in meaning.
Recent data show, for example, that music reliably conveys certain sentiments: what we feel when we hear a piece of music is remarkably similar to what everybody else in the room is experiencing. Emerging evidence also indicates that music brings out predictable responses across cultures and among people of widely varying musical or cognitive abilities.
The full article can be found in the Library's Academic Search Premier database.
