Consonant Chords Energize Social Brains, Enhancing Face-to-Face Bonding

A Yale study using functional near-infrared spectroscopy found that listening to harmonically consonant chord progressions during live eye-to-eye interaction boosts activity in social and emotional brain regions and increases perceived connectedness; removing or scrambling the music eliminates the boost, suggesting music can biologically enhance social bonding and may inform music-therapy approaches for autism and related conditions.