Summary: A large genetic twin study finds that the capacity to enjoy music is substantially influenced by heredity. Analysing data from more than 9,000 twins, researchers estimate that around 54% of the variation in music reward sensitivity is associated with genetic differences. The study further shows that genetic contributions to musical pleasure are not identical to those that govern general reward sensitivity or basic music perception.
Using twin modelling, the international research team led by investigators at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics explored how DNA differences shape the way people experience musical pleasure. Their results reveal multiple, partly independent genetic pathways that affect different forms of music-related enjoyment—such as emotional response, rhythmic engagement, and social interaction through music.
Key facts
- Heritability of musical enjoyment: Around 54% of individual differences in music reward sensitivity were linked to genetic variation in the Swedish twin sample.
- Distinct genetic influences: Genetic factors associated with music enjoyment are partly separate from those related to general reward sensitivity and from genes that influence perceptual abilities like pitch, melody and rhythm.
- Multiple pathways to pleasure: Different genetic routes appear to shape varied facets of music reward, including emotional regulation, moving to a beat, and collaborative music-making.
Why this matters
Music is central to human culture, emotion and social life. While most people derive pleasure from music, the degree and type of enjoyment differ widely between individuals. Understanding whether and how genetics contribute to those differences opens a window into the biological and psychological mechanisms that make music rewarding. As the authors note, this kind of research can illuminate more general questions about how pleasurable experiences arise in the human mind.
The study drew on self-reported measures of music reward sensitivity alongside assessments of musical perception and broader reward sensitivity. By comparing similarities between identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins, the researchers estimated the proportion of variance attributable to genetic versus environmental factors. When identical twins were more alike than fraternal twins in music reward measures, that pattern supported a genetic contribution.
Collaborating institutions included the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and the Karolinska Institute. The combined dataset comprised over 9,000 Swedish twins, including 2,305 complete twin pairs, providing strong statistical power to detect genetic effects and to investigate how those effects overlap or diverge across related traits.
Key findings indicate that genetic effects account for up to 54% of variability in music reward sensitivity in this sample. Importantly, roughly 70% of these genetic effects appear to be independent of genes linked to music perceptual abilities or to general reward sensitivity, implying specialized biological contributions to musical pleasure. Multivariate analyses further revealed that genetic and environmental influences differ across distinct facets of music reward, showing separate patterns for emotional, rhythmic and social components of musical enjoyment.
As first author Giacomo Bignardi explains, these results suggest a nuanced picture: multiple, partly distinct DNA-based influences shape how people experience music. The study points to the value of future work that maps specific genomic regions and biological pathways involved in musical reward. Such research could deepen our understanding of why music is so universally meaningful yet experienced so differently from person to person.
About this genetics and music research news
Author: Anniek Corporaal
Source: Max Planck Institute
Contact: Anniek Corporaal – Max Planck Institute
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access. Title: “Twin modelling reveals partly distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment” by Giacomo Bignardi et al., published in Nature Communications. DOI information: dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58123-8
Abstract (condensed)
People engage with music for emotion regulation, relaxation and social bonding, but there are large individual differences in music reward sensitivity. This study disentangles genetic factors underlying that variation using data from a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 9,169; 2,305 complete pairs). Researchers measured multiple facets of music reward sensitivity with the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire alongside tests of music perceptual abilities and general reward sensitivity. Twin modelling estimated that genetic effects contribute up to 54% of variability in music reward sensitivity, with about 70% of those genetic influences independent of perceptual abilities and general reward traits. Multivariate analyses revealed that genetic and environmental contributions differ across facets of music reward, indicating distinct pathways to different types of musical pleasure.