Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment

Bignardi, Giacomo; Wesseldijk, Laura Wendelmoet; Mas-Herrero, Ernest; Zatorre, Robert J.; Ullén, Fredrik; Fisher, Simon E.; Mosing, Miriam A.

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8

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Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment

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Bignardi, Giacomo
Max Planck School of Cognition;
Language and Genetics Department, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

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Wesseldijk, Laura Wendelmoet
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Max Planck Society;
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet;
Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam;

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Ullén, Fredrik
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Max Planck Society;
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet;

Fisher, Simon E.
Language and Genetics Department, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, External Organizations;

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Mosing, Miriam A.
Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Max Planck Society;
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet;
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet;
University of Melbourne;

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Citation

Bignardi, G., Wesseldijk, L. W., Mas-Herrero, E., Zatorre, R. J., Ullén, F., Fisher, S. E., et al. (2025). Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment. Nature Communications, 16: 2904. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0010-F433-1

Abstract

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.