Q: What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?
A: Homeless.
OK then.
A recent report demonstrates that synchronous drumming is associated with reward regions of the brain, and also makes people nicer. Kokal I, Engel A, Kirschner S, Keysers C (2011) Synchronized Drumming Enhances Activity in the Caudate and Facilitates Prosocial Commitment – If the Rhythm Comes Easily. PLoS ONE 6(11): e27272. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027272
Scientists in the Netherlands determined that the feeling of being united with drumming, chanting or dancing is associated with the striatum, and particularly the caudate within the striatum. The caudate is also associated with reward-based learning, and with prosocial behavior.
Although mysterious deaths from gardening, choking on someone else’s vomit, and spontaneous combustion, are unfortunate occupational hazards from being a drummer, is there a connection between being a drummer and being addicted? We wonder if the association with drumming and the reward system has anything to do with the reputation of rock and roll drummers as crazy, perhaps as a cause or result of addiction. Response pereveration associated with addiction has been reduced in the striatum using a d2/d3 antagonist (here). Does this mean that repetitive behavior – whether cognitive thoughts or neuromuscular – is mediated through dopaminergic channels?
Even apart from repetitive behavior, we wonder if synchronous behavior is generally mediated through a dopaminergic systems. Lots of activities involve synchronous neuromuscular activity, that we don’t want to go into here, if you know what we mean and we think you do. And there are also neuromotor disorders involving repetitive movements. Babies who compulsively bang their heads against their cribs generally grow out of it but some grow up to appear on celebrity rehab. We note that head-banging injury is incident to some rock genres, despite significant injury.
Moreover, subjects who were in a synchronous drumming partnership (with the experimenter) showed higher levels of prosocial behavior afterwards, than those who were in an asynchronous drumming partnership. This was measured using those sneaky Netherlandish scientists who faked dropping pencils in order to test if subjects would help with picking them up. Those subjects who demonstrated drumming synchrony with a drum partner picked up more pencils than those who were in an asynchronous drumming partnership — demonstrating that synchrony predicts later prosocial behavior. Plus, the more active the caudate with synchronous drumming partner, the more pencils picked up.
We always thought that bands threw in a drum solo only to satisfy those kids who had lizards as pets. Little did we know they were neuromarketers.
Here’s a recent video from the Percussive Society — we’d like to go to one of these events, and then ask the participants for a favor, and see what they say:
PASIC 2011 Friday Highlights from Percussive Arts Society on Vimeo.
Here is the noted “Don’t Worry Be Happy” performer, Bobby McFarrin at the World Science Festival a few years ago:
This is our new favorite drum-laden song, Prisecolinensinenciousol. We think this is a profoundly pure example of synchronized behavior, particularly given that the lyrics don’t confound the data by presenting any additional stray variables :
Update 11.19.11: Collaborative drumming used to torture Mayor Bloomberg? Whoa. Nice? Torture? Maybe Mayor B will be so confused he’ll join in.
Interesting. The e-mail function doesn’t seem to work. I’m now wondering if there is perhaps evidence of a direct correlation between unsynchronised behaviour and psychopathy?
We are big DA fans and come from generations of alcoholics, sex addicts, etc., gee why would be interested in DA!? lol Fortunately, did not get the addictions. However, are avid percussion and rhythm folks.
What we’ve learned:
- DA receptor deficits seem to drive most of this behavior. Prob D2 receptors. Leaving you born with permanent disphoria because you don’t have enuf DA receptors.
- This creates hyper-seeking behavior (DA system is the “get out and get some grub” system. Anything that triggers extra DA. Music, triggers we pay folks to trigger for us. Those of us with broken receptors pay more. Boy, do we pay more!! The hyper-seeking/craving of externally triggered DA is a tragedy. There is not enuf externally triggered DA to sooth a broken receptor system. In fact, rats who avoid hyper-triggering appear to have some repair of the DA receptors. Try selling that idea to a junkie — of any kind.
- Rhythm also appears related to intelligence. More = more. Makes sense.
BTW, being a wscience geek is also extra-external DA triggering!!
sr- Are you saying that the less your dopamine receptors bind dopamine (say the D2), the more music you need?
Now that would be a total marketing coup. No wonder those base jumping videos have the music with unrelenting percussion.
Pretty much
It seems:
- The less effective your DA receptors are, not sure if fewer or less binding, see what you can find
- The more externally triggerd DA you need to feel normal
- This deficit, in receptors, triggers hyper-seeking behaviors to trigger more DA externally.
This seems to be the mechanism for addictions. Yes, extreme sports 2.
Now this seems to challenge the DA as reward model, since the DA mainly drives seeking behavior and the seeking is what is stopped when DA is experienced. The DA system evolved as the driver to get up, go out and get food — not a “reward” system per se. It seems the “reward” stops the seeking. It’s cokmplex or at least too complex for us to have a full view just yet, but we keep plugging away at it. Please add antyhing you have.
sr – Good point. The DA system is more like the appetitive system, rather than a reward system per se (we wonder about mu opioid for the reward system). There’s also serotonin involved. Growth factors that aid in neuroplasticity, so that neuron branches form and connect — would seem to have something to do with novelty-seeking. After all, if you have sluggish neuroplasticity, then you’ll be happy being in a rut (and not seeking rewards) (or maybe the rut is your reward).
It’s complicated. Our interest is in what drives behavior. Neurogenic factors seem mainly age related and pretty weak past age 27 so largely irrelevant.
The novelty seems mainly related to appetites or deficits in those systems as you accurately point out.
It does appear that people with “conservative” behavior patterns are actually just expressing a brain impairment or weakness in processing new information. Hostile-aggressive-defensive behaviors are symptoms of a brain that can easily be made to feel overwhelmed. Of course, this problem increases in age with men mainly.
That chanting part is really interesting as almost all religions practice this in one form or the other. Also the phrase – it was drummed in – becomes much more clear, as well as, the problems we face with indoctrination.
A1,drumming is ubiquitous. I always had this assumption that in utero heartbeat —> dotted line to drumming. And yes, group cohesion generated by synchronous chanting comes to mind as far as indoctrination.