Listening to Music: A Social Fix? (VIDEO) Southern Methodist University This video is under embargo. Please login to access this video. Caption People who deeply grasp the pain or happiness of others also process music differently, say researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas and UCLA. The study in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience compared MRI scans of low- and high-empathy people. Higher empathy people process music like a pleasurable proxy for a human encounter -- in brain regions for reward and social awareness. The findings may have implications for the function of music now and in our evolutionary past. Credit (SMU) Usage Restrictions Please credit License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.