Skin Orgasms: Music, Songs That Chill, Thrill And Excite Us

Songs by Adele, Oasis and Celine Dion can give you an orgasm -- and just not in the way you might think. That strong feeling you get when you're listening to a favorite piece of music? It's a skin orgasm. At least that's what one psychologist at Wesleyan University likes to call it. We commoners generally refer to the sensation as chills. But "skin orgasm" certainly has a better ring.

Psyche Loui, an assistant professor at Wesleyan and an accomplished pianist and violinist, according to the BBC, first recognized the sensation when she was an undergraduate listening to Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2."

Years later, Loui decided to study the phenomenon. In an article published with graduate student Luke Harrison she recapped the evidence of skin orgasms. Certain musical qualities have been found to cause a rush of endorphins and trigger skin orgasms -- or what more boring people have called musical frisson. These musical qualities include sudden changes in harmony, dynamic shifts in volume and dissonant notes that clash with other melodies.

Other songs that have strong responses from lab subjects include Adele's "Someone Like You," Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," and Oasis' "Wonderwall." The BBC put together a playlist of songs provided by Loui.

Beyond overarching musical qualities, Loui says that our autobiographical experiences also come into play. As such, a song that might be orgasmic for you, might not be for someone else.

While some researchers have argued that musical tastes are little more than pattern recognition, Loui disagrees. Instead, she likes to see music as a transformative experience that helps us connect and communicate emotionally.

We have some suggestions for other songs Loui can test. How about Coldplay's "Viva La Vida"?

Or Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"?

Or maybe some old-school Journey?

Well, maybe that one is based on more autobiographical experiences. Maybe.