Summary: A new genetic study reveals that our capacity to enjoy music is partly inherited, with 54% of music enjoyment variability linked to DNA differences. Researchers analyzed data from over 9,000 twins to explore whether genetics influence how much pleasure people derive from music.
They found that genetic factors affecting music enjoyment are partly distinct from those linked to general reward sensitivity or musical perception. The findings suggest that separate genetic pathways contribute to different ways people experience musical pleasure, including emotional response, rhythmic engagement, and social music-making.
Key Facts:
Source: Max Planck Institute
Music is central to human emotion and culture. Does our ability to enjoy music have a biological basis?
A genetic twin study, published in Nature Communications, shows that music enjoyment is partly heritable.
An international team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, uncovered genetic factors that influence the degree of music enjoyment, which were partly distinct from genes influencing general enjoyment of rewarding experiences or musical ability.
Music plays an important role in human emotion, social bonding, and cultural expression. As Darwin already noted, music “must be ranked amongst the most mysterious with which he is endowed”. But why do people enjoy music?
“The answer to this big question has the potential to open a window into more general aspects of the human mind, such as how experiences become pleasurable”, says first author and PhD candidate Giacomo Bignardi.
“We wanted to understand whether genetic differences between individuals can result in differences in the pleasure that people derive from music and what these differences can tell us about human musicality in general”.
To determine whether genetic factors contribute to music enjoyment or ‘music reward sensitivity’, the researchers used the twin design, which compares similarities between identical twins and fraternal twins. Put simply, if identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins, genetics should play a role.
In collaboration with the MPI for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the team was able to use data from more than 9,000 twins, including self-reported music reward and general reward sensitivity, as well as their ability to perceive musical features such as pitch, melody and rhythm.
The results show that the ability to experience pleasure from music is partly heritable: using the twin design, the researchers were able to estimate that 54% of the variability in the Swedish sample is associated with DNA differences between individuals.
The team also found genetic influences on music reward sensitivity to be partly independent of general reward sensitivity and music perceptual abilities, and discovered that distinct genetic pathways influenced different facets of music enjoyment, such as emotion regulation, dancing along with a beat or playing music with others.
“These findings suggest a complex picture in which partly distinct DNA differences contribute to different aspects of music enjoyment”, concludes Bignardi.
“Future research looking at which part of the genome contributes the most to the human ability to enjoy music has the potential to shed light on the human faculty that baffled Darwin the most, and which still baffles us today.”
Author: Anniek Corporaal
Source: Max Planck Institute
Contact: Anniek Corporaal – Max Planck Institute
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment” by Giacomo Bignardi et al. Nature Communications
Abstract
Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment
Humans engage with music for various reasons that range from emotional regulation and relaxation to social bonding. While there are large inter-individual differences in how much humans enjoy music, little is known about the origins of those differences.
Here, we disentangle the genetic factors underlying such variation.
We collect data on several facets of music reward sensitivity, as measured by the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire, plus music perceptual abilities and general reward sensitivity from a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 9169; 2305 complete pairs).
We estimate that genetic effects contribute up to 54% of the variability in music reward sensitivity, with 70% of these effects being independent of music perceptual abilities and general reward sensitivity.
Furthermore, multivariate analyses show that genetic and environmental influences on the different facets of music reward sensitivity are partly distinct, uncovering distinct pathways to music enjoyment and different patterns of genetic associations with objectively assessed music perceptual abilities.
These results paint a complex picture in which partially distinct sources of variation contribute to different aspects of musical enjoyment.
As the oldest of 3 siblings, I leared to play a musical instrument at a very young age. I later aquired a taste for a variet of music from classical to rock and pop and jazz. I am in my mid 6os and I still enjoy my music all the time on my smartphone’s library. Cheers
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Genes Play a Role in Why We Love Music – Neuroscience News
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