Research report 2025 - Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics
Multiple genetic pathways to music enjoyment
Authors
Bignardi, Giacomo; Wesseldijk, Laura W.; Mas-Herrero, Ernest; Zatorre, Robert J.; Ullén, Fredrik; Fisher, Simon E.; Mosing, Miriam A.
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik, Frankfurt am Main
Abteilung Kognitive Neurowissenschaften
Max-Planck-Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen
Abteilung Language and Genetics
Abteilung Kognitive Neurowissenschaften
Max-Planck-Institut für Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen
Abteilung Language and Genetics
Summary
How does perception become pleasure? And why, for some, does it not? By applying genetic modelling, we show that genetic influences on music enjoyment are largely distinct from those governing music perception and general reward processing. Different facets of enjoyment are each shaped by distinct genetic pathways. This raises the hypothesis that genetic influences on brain wiring may explain why, for some, perception never becomes more than that.