Music and Dopamine – Potential in Movement Disorders

Abstract

Most people have been deriving pleasure from music since long ago. Music is deeply associated with human communication and language. Music had also been popular as therapy in early history. How can we feel happiness or sadness when we listen to music? Scientifically, the dorsal and ventral striatum release dopamine when listening to pleasurable music. The activity in these structures is known to associate with the reward system of the human brain. Moreover, the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system regulates our motor function, and this is the very part that is damaged in the movement disorders. In this article, we review the potent role of music from the viewpoint of the dopaminergic system. We also describe the molecular mechanism of the dopaminergic pathogenesis and suggest the potent ability of music for the therapy of Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders.