Kathios, N. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2026

When Music Loses Its Pleasure: Hippocampal Cingulum White Matter as a Structural Mediator of Musical Reward Decline in Aging

Individuals ability to obtain pleasure from music, referred to as musical reward sensitivity, declines with age, yet the neural mechanisms underlying this decline remain unclear. In this study, we investigated musical reward sensitivity measured in 58 older adults and 131 young adults. Consistent with prior findings, young adults reported higher musical reward sensitivity than older adults (p < 0.05). To identify neuroanatomical predictors of musical reward sensitivity, we employed the elastic-net model to predict musical reward sensitivity using white matter microstructural properties and gray matter morphometric properties from the whole brain. In older adults, fractional anisotropy (FA) in the bilateral hippocampal cingulum (CGH) and external capsule (EC) reliably predicted individual differences in musical reward sensitivity. Moreover, FA in the right CGH significantly mediated the relationship between age and musical reward sensitivity in older adults. Notably, these associations were specific to musical reward sensitivity in older adults--that is, they did not replicate in young adults, and did not extend to general reward sensitivity. Together, these findings highlight the critical role of white matter integrity, particularly within the hippocampal-limbic pathways, in age-related changes in musical reward processing, and suggest a potential neurobiological target for interventions aimed at enhancing well-being in older adulthood. Key pointsO_LIWhole-brain machine learning identified the FA in the hippocampal cingulum and external capsule as robust predictors of musical reward sensitivity in older adults. C_LIO_LIFA in the right hippocampal cingulum mediated the association between age and musical reward sensitivity. C_LIO_LIThese findings extend previous association-based studies by identifying hippocampal-limbic white matter as a key neural substrate supporting musical reward sensitivity decline during aging. C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Generating New Musical Preferences from Hierarchical Mapping of Predictions to Reward

Much of what we know and love about music hinges on our ability to make successful predictions, which appears to be an intrinsically rewarding process. Yet the exact process by which learned predictions become pleasurable is unclear. Here, we created novel melodies in an alternative scale different from any established musical culture, to show how musical preference is generated de novo. Across nine studies (n=1185), participants learned to like more frequently-presented items that adhered to this rapidly-learned structure, suggesting that exposure and prediction errors both affected self-report liking ratings. Learning trajectories varied by music reward sensitivity, but were similar for USA and Chinese participants. Furthermore, fMRI activity in auditory areas reflected prediction errors whereas functional connectivity between auditory and medial prefrontal regions reflected both exposure and prediction errors. Collectively, results support predictive coding as a cognitive mechanism by which new musical sounds become rewarding.

neuroscience↗