In an attempt to unravel this mystery, a research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics conducted an original study using a classic method of behavioural psychology: twin analysis.
More than 9,000 Swedish twins – identical and fraternal – were interviewed to assess their sensitivity to musical enjoyment, their attraction to rewards in general, as well as their auditory abilities (perception of rhythm, melody or pitch).
The results are surprising. Up to 54% of the variations in the way participants experienced musical pleasure could be attributed to genetic differences.
Even more intriguing, this sensitivity seemed to be partially independent of an individual’s taste for other forms of pleasure, such as food or social rewards, but also of their musical skills.
In other words, loving music to the point of being moved by it does not depend on your ear or your appetite for pleasure or enjoyment in general. It could be a singular pleasure, rooted in your biology.
The researchers identified several genetic pathways involved in different aspects of the musical experience: the regulation of emotions, the pleasure of dancing to the beat or of playing music with others.
This highlights how intimate, complex and fundamentally human an individual’s relationship with music is.
For Giacomo Bignardi, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute and first author of the study, these discoveries open a new door to the understanding of pleasure.
“These findings suggest a complex picture in which partly distinct DNA differences contribute to different aspects of music enjoyment,” the researcher explains in a news release.
By deciphering the driving forces behind these gratifying experiences, the researchers hope to better understand the mechanisms of reward, emotions and memory.
It is a way of redefining an individual’s vision of human musicality, no longer as a simple matter of culture or learning, but as an intrinsic reflection of their biological identity.
Could this be the key to one day solving one of the most fascinating mysteries of the species – one that Darwin considered particularly unfathomable?