Take advantage of neuroscience to bond your team together using meaningful music on your next offsite

At my last company, I was known for creating the best brainstorms. I always started off the brainstorm with music, but not just any music: the feel good music from the era of high school. I was just having fun, but apparently I had tapped into what neuroscience has shown is one of the best ways to release serotonin: music that generates nostalgia. No wonder participants in my brainstorm were so happy!

Neurological researchers have found that listening to music triggers the release of several neurochemicals that play a role in brain function and mental health, primarily dopamine & seratonin, associated with pleasure and “reward” centers.

Have you ever noticed that you get particularly nostalgic around songs from high school? They bring a particular sentiment (and serotonin releases) that actually creates joy in the moment.

So instead of just picking any music the next time you want to create connection for your team, why not pick the songs that make people nostalgic….the ones that bring a smile to your face…the ones that release joy chemicals and make people experience joy in the moment. ​​One particularly notable phenomenon in neuroscience of how we interpret music is the “reminiscence bump”: the fact that people tend to disproportionately recall memories from when they were 10 to 30 years old. “Musical reminiscence bumps” peak around age 14 and create lifelong memories. 

So it seems that we aren’t primarily so interested in the music of our youth because we think it’s better than music from other eras, but because it is closely linked to our personal memories.

So what does this mean for you in creating your next offsite:

When creating your next teambuilding event, think about integrating natural dopamine boosters in order to have people bond. Think about integrating music from people’s high school eras to have that throwback jolly experience. As part of the intake for a lot of my offsites, I ask the high school year of graduation and location (city, state) so that I can pick songs specifically for members of the group. Thus, this experience is designed to organically set up the group for the most amount of connection through joy.

While dopamine hits have plenty of negative contexts (as the chemical can create addiction), using dopamine hits to facilitate the optimum environment for you to connect with your teammates is the least of its misuses.