Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • Archive
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • Highlights from Latest Articles
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Purpose and Scope
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • For Reviewers
    • Author FAQ
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Latest Articles
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • Archive
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • Highlights from Latest Articles
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Purpose and Scope
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • For Reviewers
    • Author FAQ

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology

Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning

Benjamin P. Gold, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Yashar Zeighami, Mitchel Benovoy, Alain Dagher, and Robert J. Zatorre
PNAS February 19, 2019 116 (8) 3310-3315; published ahead of print February 19, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809855116
Benjamin P. Gold
aMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;bInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC H2V 2J2, Canada;cCentre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology, Montreal, QC H3A 1E3, Canada;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Benjamin P. Gold
  • For correspondence: benjamin.gold@mail.mcgill.ca
Ernest Mas-Herrero
aMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;bInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC H2V 2J2, Canada;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Yashar Zeighami
aMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Yashar Zeighami
Mitchel Benovoy
dInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, École Polytechnique, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada;eCorstem, Montreal, QC H3C 4J9, Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alain Dagher
aMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Robert J. Zatorre
aMontreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;bInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC H2V 2J2, Canada;cCentre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology, Montreal, QC H3A 1E3, Canada;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  1. Edited by Dale Purves, Duke University, Durham, NC, and approved January 3, 2019 (received for review June 8, 2018)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Significance

Prediction errors are crucial for perception, learning, and adaptability. Can they also explain the abstract pleasures we derive from seemingly nonadaptive behaviors? We present evidence of musically elicited reward prediction errors (RPEs), illustrating that an abstract stimulus without apparent biological value can engage the reward system simply by manipulating expectations. Our results demonstrate that musical events can elicit formally modeled RPEs like those observed for concrete rewards, such as food or money, and that these signals support learning. This extension of the RPE model to music implies that predictive processing might play a much wider role in reward and pleasure than previously realized, and inspires new perspectives on aesthetics as well as potential therapeutic and educational applications.

Abstract

Enjoying music reliably ranks among life’s greatest pleasures. Like many hedonic experiences, it engages several reward-related brain areas, with activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) most consistently reflecting the listener’s subjective response. Converging evidence suggests that this activity arises from musical “reward prediction errors” (RPEs) that signal the difference between expected and perceived musical events, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested. In the present fMRI experiment, we assessed whether music could elicit formally modeled RPEs in the NAc by applying a well-established decision-making protocol designed and validated for studying RPEs. In the scanner, participants chose between arbitrary cues that probabilistically led to dissonant or consonant music, and learned to make choices associated with the consonance, which they preferred. We modeled regressors of trial-by-trial RPEs, finding that NAc activity tracked musically elicited RPEs, to an extent that explained variance in the individual learning rates. These results demonstrate that music can act as a reward, driving learning and eliciting RPEs in the NAc, a hub of reward- and music enjoyment-related activity.

  • music
  • reward prediction errors
  • nucleus accumbens
  • abstract reward
  • fMRI

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: benjamin.gold{at}mail.mcgill.ca.
  • Author contributions: B.P.G., M.B., A.D., and R.J.Z. designed research; B.P.G. performed research; B.P.G., E.M.-H., Y.Z., and M.B. analyzed data; and B.P.G. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • Data deposition: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in NeuroVault, https://neurovault.org/collections/4778/.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1809855116/-/DCSupplemental.

Published under the PNAS license.

View Full Text

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.

Subscribers, for more details, please visit our Subscriptions FAQ.

Please click here to log into the PNAS submission website.

PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
Citation Tools
Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning
Benjamin P. Gold, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Yashar Zeighami, Mitchel Benovoy, Alain Dagher, Robert J. Zatorre
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2019, 116 (8) 3310-3315; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1809855116

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Musical reward prediction errors engage the nucleus accumbens and motivate learning
Benjamin P. Gold, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Yashar Zeighami, Mitchel Benovoy, Alain Dagher, Robert J. Zatorre
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2019, 116 (8) 3310-3315; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1809855116
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 116 (8)
Current Issue

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
    • Materials and Methods
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

News Feature: Cities serve as testbeds for evolutionary change
Urban living can pressure flora and fauna to adapt in intriguing ways. Biologists are starting to take advantage of this convenient laboratory of evolution.
Image credit: Kristin Winchell (Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis).
Several aspects of the proposal, which aims to expand open access, require serious discussion and, in some cases, a rethink.
Opinion: “Plan S” falls short for society publishers—and for the researchers they serve
Several aspects of the proposal, which aims to expand open access, require serious discussion and, in some cases, a rethink.
Image credit: Dave Cutler (artist).
Featured Profile
PNAS Profile of NAS member and biochemist Hao Wu
 Nonmonogamous strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio).  Image courtesy of Yusan Yang (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh).
Putative signature of monogamy
A study suggests a putative gene-expression hallmark common to monogamous male vertebrates of some species, namely cichlid fishes, dendrobatid frogs, passeroid songbirds, common voles, and deer mice, and identifies 24 candidate genes potentially associated with monogamy.
Image courtesy of Yusan Yang (University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh).
Active lifestyles. Image courtesy of Pixabay/MabelAmber.
Meaningful life tied to healthy aging
Physical and social well-being in old age are linked to self-assessments of life worth, and a spectrum of behavioral, economic, health, and social variables may influence whether aging individuals believe they are leading meaningful lives.
Image courtesy of Pixabay/MabelAmber.

More Articles of This Classification

Biological Sciences

  • Photosynthetic adaptation to low iron, light, and temperature in Southern Ocean phytoplankton
  • DNA helicase RecQ1 regulates mutually exclusive expression of virulence genes in Plasmodium falciparum via heterochromatin alteration
  • Calcineurin dephosphorylates Kelch-like 3, reversing phosphorylation by angiotensin II and regulating renal electrolyte handling
Show more

Psychological and Cognitive Sciences

  • Hippocampal atrophy and intrinsic brain network dysfunction relate to alterations in mind wandering in neurodegeneration
  • Self-regulation and the foraging gene (PRKG1) in humans
Show more

Related Content

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited by...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive

PNAS Portals

  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Teaching Resources
  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Press
  • Site Map

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2019 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490