Our willingness to listen to music is a biological trait and related to the neurobiological pathways affecting social affiliation and communication, suggests a recent Finnish study.
The understanding of the “biology” and even evolutionary position of music in human life is something I hadn’t really thought about until I read Ian McGilchrist’s excellent, “The Master and His Emissary“. In that work he describes the theory that music was the precursor to language and that one of its unique functions was to develop and strengthen bonds between people in a group, and to communicate at a “feeling” level, rather than at a more cognitive one.
The particular issue of the relationship between music and bonding is explored in the way the right hemisphere functions, and how it has a major role in the appreciation of music, and in the forming of social bonds. This Finnish study refers to some very similar ideas.
Similarities between human and animal song have been detected: both contain a message, an intention that reflects innate emotional state that is interpreted correctly even among different species. In fact, several behavioral features in listening to music are closely related to attachment: lullabies are sung to infants to increase their attachment to a parent, and singing or playing music together is based on teamwork and may add group cohesion.
Rather less interesting (in my opinion) is their exploration of the genetic “associations” (although I was pleased to see this word “associations” rather than “determinants”) related to the appreciation of music.
Heroes Not Zombies 