Mind · IN60SECONDS

Why does music give you chills?

Because music can trigger the brain’s reward system. Brain scans show dopamine released during a favorite passage, first in anticipation and then at the peak, and more than half of people get chills, by some estimates.

Quick Answer

Musical chills, sometimes called frisson, happen when a moment in music sets off an intense emotional response, and the brain’s reward system appears to be involved. In a 2001 study in PNAS, Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre found that chills went with changes in blood flow in brain regions linked to reward and emotion, including the ventral striatum and the amygdala. In a 2011 Nature Neuroscience study, Valorie Salimpoor and colleagues used PET scans to show that dopamine, a chemical linked to reward, was released in the striatum while people listened to music that gave them chills: in the caudate during the build-up and in the nucleus accumbens at the peak. Estimates of how many people feel musical chills range from about 55% to 86%, depending on the study. A 2016 brain-imaging study found that people who get chills more often have stronger connections between auditory areas and areas that process emotion.

By the Numbers

2001Year a PNAS study tied musical chills to reward and emotion regions of the brain

2011Year PET scans showed dopamine release during musical chills

55–86%Estimated share of people who feel musical chills

Key Facts

What it is: A tingle, shiver or goosebumps in response to emotionally intense music, called frisson
In the brain: Dopamine is released in the striatum, first in anticipation and then at the peak
Who gets them: Estimates range from about 55% to 86% of people, depending on the study
Why some get more: Stronger links between hearing and emotion areas go with more frequent chills, a connection and not a proven cause

From song to shiver

The build-up
As you anticipate a favorite moment, dopamine is released in the caudate, part of the striatum.
The peak
At the high point, dopamine is released in the nucleus accumbens, another part of the striatum.
The body responds
Heart rate and breathing can change, and some people get goosebumps or shivers.
The reward
The brain registers the moment as pleasurable, which can make you want to hear it again.

A reward from sound

In 2001, Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre used PET scans to look at the brains of people listening to music that gave them chills. As the chills got stronger, blood flow rose or fell in regions associated with reward, emotion and arousal, including the ventral striatum and the amygdala.

Anticipation and payoff

A 2011 study by Valorie Salimpoor and colleagues combined PET scans with measures of the body’s arousal. They found dopamine release in the striatum at peak emotional arousal, and a separate burst in a different part of the striatum during the anticipation just before it, which helps explain why waiting for a favorite moment can feel good too.

Why some people get more

A 2016 study found that the frequency of chills in response to self-chosen music was linked to the volume of a tract connecting auditory areas with the insula and medial prefrontal cortex, which handle emotion and social processing. It’s a correlation, so it doesn’t show what causes what.

Myth vs. Fact

MythEveryone gets chills from music.

FactEstimates vary from about 55% to 86%, depending on the study, so a sizable minority of people don’t.

MythChills are just a reaction to a cold feeling.

FactThey’re linked to the brain’s reward system, with measurable dopamine release.

The Bottom Line

Music gives you chills when it triggers your brain’s reward system. Brain scans show dopamine released as you anticipate and then reach the peak of a favorite moment.