Overview: A recent research study has revealed that the desire to move to music, often referred to as “groove,” is a unique physiological reaction distinct from the enjoyment of music. The study focused on individuals suffering from musical anhedonia—those who experience minimal or no pleasure when listening to music. Surprisingly, these individuals still displayed a pronounced inclination to move in response to rhythmic sounds.

Participants were asked to assess their level of pleasure and the intensity of the urge to move while listening to various musical pieces. The findings suggest that for those with anhedonia, the act of moving itself could generate a sense of pleasure. Contrary to prior assumptions, these participants exhibited normal groove responses, indicating that the mechanisms involved in rhythm-driven movement are distinct from those that govern musical enjoyment.

Key Insights

• Physical Movement as Source of Pleasure: Individuals with musical anhedonia still feel a compulsion to move to music, despite a lack of enjoyment.
• Distinct Neural Pathways: The dorsal striatum, associated with movement, may contribute to groove sensations, while the ventral striatum is linked to musical enjoyment.
• Upcoming Neuroimaging Studies: Future research will utilize MRI and magnetoencephalography to explore brain connectivity differences between those with musical anhedonia and control subjects.

Source: Concordia University

The compelling drive to dance to music, or groove, appears to be a physiological response that operates independently of our overall enjoyment of music, according to a groundbreaking paper by researchers at Concordia University.

This groove response is so pronounced that it also manifests in individuals affected by musical anhedonia, who report little to no joy derived from music.

The lead author of the study, Isaac Romkey, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, notes in the journal PLOS One that recent findings indicate the two components of groove—pleasure and the urge to move—while often correlated, may function separately.

In their exploration, Romkey and his team assessed groove responses using over 50 short music clips among individuals with musical anhedonia and matched controls. The anhedonia group was selected based on their ability to enjoy other life pleasures, such as cuisine and intimacy, and their responses to various reward-based metrics.

Additionally, the researchers ensured that participants were free from depression and retained proper pitch and rhythm perception. After listening to the selected musical clips, designed to trigger groove sensations and varying in rhythmic intricacy, participants rated their pleasure and desire to move.

“Typically, we would anticipate witnessing an inverted U-shaped response to rhythmic complexity, suggesting that we prefer music with moderately complex rhythms rather than overly simple or excessively complex ones,” Romkey elaborates.

The researchers hypothesized that individuals with anhedonia would report lower pleasure levels but would maintain similar urge-to-move ratings compared to the control group.

Contrary to expectations, however, there were no significant differences in pleasure or movement urges between the two groups. More crucially, it was discovered that for those with anhedonia, the urge to move actively contributed to their pleasure experience. This finding implies that the reduced pleasure response in these individuals is balanced by their physical need to move.

“In the musical anhedonia group, we expected to see a flattening of the U-shaped curve, but that was not the outcome. This suggests that those with musical anhedonia derive pleasure from the urge to move, indicating that the desire to move may inherently generate pleasure,” explains Romkey.

Identical Response, Different Origins

The underlying causes of musical anhedonia remain largely unexplored. However, Romkey suspects that it may have a genetic basis. He highlights that while the urge to move correlates with the dorsal striatum—a brain region crucial for motor functions—the pleasurable sensation is primarily associated with the ventral striatum, which governs reward, motivation, and goal-oriented actions.

“In our forthcoming studies, we aim to examine the variations in functional and structural connectivity between the dorsal and ventral striatum in individuals with anhedonia compared to controls, using techniques like MRI and magnetoencephalography,” he adds.

Insights from Research on Musical Anhedonia and Movement

Author: Patrick Lejtenyi
Source: Concordia University
Contact: Patrick Lejtenyi – Concordia University
Image: Image courtesy of Neuroscience News

Original Study: Accessible research.
“The pleasurable urge to move to music remains unchanged in individuals with musical anhedonia” by Isaac Romkey and colleagues, published in PLOS One

Abstract

The enjoyable urge to move to music is unaffected in those with musical anhedonia

Within cognitive science, the concept of “groove” is described as the enjoyable urge to move to music.

When listeners evaluate rhythmic stimuli based on pleasure and the desire to move, these aspects typically show a high correlation. However, recent behavioral and brain imaging studies have indicated that these two dimensions might be independent.

This study investigates the groove feeling in individuals with specific musical anhedonia. Those with musical anhedonia report a dulled ability to find pleasure in music while still enjoying other life experiences (e.g., food and intimate relationships).

Individuals experiencing musical anhedonia were identified through scores falling within the lowest 10% on the Barcelona Musical Reward Questionnaire, yet exhibited no deficits in music perception, absence of depressive symptoms, and average levels of physical and social anhedonia, alongside sensitivity to reward and punishment.

It was predicted that if the two components of groove are truly separate, individuals with musical anhedonia would report lower pleasure ratings but similar movements urges compared to control subjects.

Groove responses were measured in an online experiment (N = 148) using a set of musical stimuli designed by the researchers that varied in rhythmic and harmonic complexity and had been validated in earlier studies.

Unexpectedly, no significant differences were noted in groove responses between individuals with musical anhedonia (n = 17) and the control group (n = 17). Mediation analyses within the anhedonia sample indicated that the urge to move fully mediated the relationship between rhythmic and harmonic complexity and pleasure ratings.

Overall, these results suggest that the urge to move compensates for the diminished pleasure experiences in individuals affected by musical anhedonia.

More generally, these findings indicate that the desire to move serves as a primary source of enjoyment in the groove response.