Why does music move us? With Robert Zatorre, PhD

Music engages the entire brain, activating complex networks spanning auditory, motor, memory, and reward systems. Dr. Robert Zatorre, a pioneer in the neuroscience of music, explains that musical pleasure stems from the brain's dopaminergic reward system, which responds to unexpected patterns—a principle of predictability and surprise known as the Wundt curve. While most individuals derive pleasure from music, a small percentage experience musical anhedonia, a condition linked to less robust connectivity between auditory and reward pathways. Music also serves as a powerful cue for autobiographical memory due to its emotional salience and capacity to trigger reward-based encoding. Beyond basic science, these findings inform clinical applications, such as using rhythmic auditory stimulation to assist patients with Parkinson’s disease and exploring tactile vibration as a tool to improve music perception for those with hearing loss.