Researchers found a link between dopamine and music-evoked pleasure by pharmacologically manipulating the dopaminergic transmission of 27 volunteers and measuring brain reward responses while the volunteers listened to music; the dopamine precursor levodopa increased music-evoked pleasure and music-related motivational responses, such as willingness to purchase a song, whereas the dopamine antagonist risperidone led to reduction of both pleasure and responses, according to the authors.
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Article #18-11878: "Dopamine modulates the reward experiences elicited by music," by Laura Ferreri et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Ferreri, University of Lyon, FRANCE; email: laura.ferreri@univ-lyon2.fr
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences