Happiness hormone at concerts: music more effective than kissing and sex

A scientific experiment at this year's Dresden Music Festival proves the effect of a concert experience on the body. The study at an evening of the "Sound & Science" series clearly showed that playing and listening to live music together increases the "cuddle hormone" oxytocin enormously. "Music is even better than kissing or sex," reported artistic director Jan Vogler. This is because the levels of the hormone found in visitors and musicians were in some cases higher than those measured in previous studies after an intimate kiss or even after sex.

Measuring devices clearly failed

Oxytocin is normally released through hugs and kisses and also has the ability to strengthen the immune system and reduce stress, anxiety and pain. At the concert at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, volunteers in the audience initially showed an average value of 37.54 picograms per millilitre (pg/ml) and then a multiple of 203.17 pg/ml, according to the press release.

It was just as clear with the musicians. "While hugging each other hardly brought any changes, making music together led to a clear increase, on average by 88.49 pg/ml," reported TU Professor Clemens Kirschbaum, who led the experiment.

Making music together creates a deeper biological bond

According to scientific findings, a 20-second hug with a partner leads to an increase in oxytocin of 3 to 5 pg/ml and very close physical proximity causes an increase of 50 to 150 pg/ml. This means that "making music together can have a more profound biological effect than a hug", said Kirschbaum.

In addition, many listeners reported a strong feeling of connection with the musicians and other concert-goers. These were mainly those who found the music expressive, emotional or aesthetic. For the researchers and the artistic directors, one thing is clear: "Music creates connection - measurable in the body, tangible in the heart."