Twin study shows Genes influence taste and enjoyment of music
According to researchers, the enjoyment of music is partly innate. The research team used data from more than 9000 twins for the study.
13.04.2025, 06:56
SDA
Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, investigated the question of why certain people enjoy music more than others.
To find out, the team used a research design in which the similarity between identical and fraternal twins is compared: In collaboration with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, they used data from more than 9000 twins.
The team published the results in the journal "Nature Communications". The results paint "a complex picture", reported co-author Miriam Mosing from the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt.
Genetic and environmental factors
"They show that our enjoyment of music does not depend exclusively on our ability to perceive musical sounds or to feel pleasure in general," she said.
Rather, it appears that there are specific genetic and environmental factors that influence musical perception.
In addition, the researchers discovered that various facets of music enjoyment are influenced by different genes - for example the regulation of emotions, dancing to the beat or making music with others.
