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Perhaps a love of music is genetically determined
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Finnish researchers claim that a passion for music is a neurobiological feature that influences the formation of social relationships.
Music has been listened to at all times, in all cultures. Similarities between human and bird songs have long been described in detail: both contain a message and record an internal state that can be recognized even by representatives of other species. Meanwhile, the perception of music has a number of features that are important from a biological point of view: a lullaby strengthens the relationship between a child and a parent, joint singing or playing music involves people in a collective action and strengthens social ties in a group...
A new study by researchers at the University of Helsinki and the Sibelius Academy examined the possible biological basis for a passion for music. Scientists and musicologists interviewed 437 people aged 8–93 from 31 Finnish families. The respondents included both professional musicians and people without any musical education. The researchers divided active and passive listeners into opposite poles: the former devote all their attention to music and go to concerts, while the latter perceive music solely as a background for some other activity. Blood samples were taken from all participants for DNA testing.
Genetic analysis showed a "family" distribution of the occurrence of musical deafness, absolute pitch, and a tendency to personal musical creativity. Also, depending on the pedigree, the love of listening to music and the level of musical education changed. Moreover, the love and dislike of music correlated at the molecular level with the presence of the arginine-vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A) gene. Its influence on the level of socialization and active formation of interpersonal contacts in humans and other animals has been shown. Homologues of vasopressin in various animals increase singing abilities in birds and affect the processes associated with the breeding of offspring in lizards and fish.
The results of the study speak (albeit at a correlational level) to the role of biology in the perception of music, pointing to molecular factors that link the perception of sound and social behavior. Further work in this direction may clarify the understanding of how genetics and culture interact through music.
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