Music engagement is negatively correlated with depressive symptoms during the COVID‐19 pandemic via reward‐related mechanisms

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected the mental health of millions of people.We assessed which of many leisure activities correlated with positive mental health outputs, with particular attention to music, which has been reported to be important for coping with the psychological burden of the pandemic. Questionnaire data from about 1000 individuals primarily from Italy, Spain, and the United States during May-June 2020 show that people picked music activities (listening to, playing, singing, etc.) most often as the leisure experiences that helped them the most to cope with psychological distress related with the pandemic. During the pandemic, hours of engagement in music and food-related activities were associated with lower depressive symptoms.The negative correlation between music and depression was mediated by individual differences in sensitivity to reward, whereas the correlation between food-related activities and improved mental health outputs was explained by differences in emotion suppression strategies. Our results, while correlational, suggest that engaging in music activities could be related to improved well-being with the underlying mechanism being related to reward, consistent with neuroscience findings. Our data have practical significance in pointing to effective strategies to cope with mental health issues beyond those related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elevated Activity in Left Homologous Music Circuits is Maladaptive for Music Perception but Mediated by Decoupled Structure and Function

“…Music is a fundamental but important element in human life. It serves as a means of social communication and contributes to mental health during stressful periods (Mas-Herrero et al, 2023). However, there is a specific neurological impairment called amusia, which is characterized by music perception and/or production deficits but could not be explained by general cognitive or motor deficits.…”

Elevator music as a tool for the quantitative characterization of reward

“…In addition to experiencing emotions from external or involuntary changes, humans also use abstract stimuli, such as music, to modulate their emotions voluntarily 3 . − 5 Music is known to induce a complex range of emotions cross‐culturally 6 and plays a crucial role in overall mood regulation and stress management 3 . − 5,7 Importantly, accumulated evidence shows that music activates brain networks involved in emotion and reward and induces the release of dopamine 8 .…”

“…− 5 Music is known to induce a complex range of emotions cross‐culturally 6 and plays a crucial role in overall mood regulation and stress management 3 . − 5,7 Importantly, accumulated evidence shows that music activates brain networks involved in emotion and reward and induces the release of dopamine 8 . − 11 Unlike other primary (e.g., food) or secondary reinforcers (e.g., money), which can downregulate the reward system over time, 12 music—an abstract reward—can induce maximal pleasure repeatedly, 13 making it suitable for spontaneous and/or direct mood regulation 5,14,15 .…”

“…− 5,7 Importantly, accumulated evidence shows that music activates brain networks involved in emotion and reward and induces the release of dopamine 8 . − 11 Unlike other primary (e.g., food) or secondary reinforcers (e.g., money), which can downregulate the reward system over time, 12 music—an abstract reward—can induce maximal pleasure repeatedly, 13 making it suitable for spontaneous and/or direct mood regulation 5,14,15 . Music is also naturalistic, highly accessible, and known to induce reward‐ and emotion‐related responses almost universally 16,17 …”

“…8−11 Unlike other primary (e.g., food) or secondary reinforcers (e.g., money), which can downregulate the reward system over time, 12 music-an abstract reward-can induce maximal pleasure repeatedly, 13 making it suitable for spontaneous and/or direct mood regulation. 5,14,15 Music is also naturalistic, highly accessible, and known to induce reward-and emotion-related responses almost universally. 16,17 There are, however, great individual differences in both preference (i.e., music taste) and sensitivity to musical reward.…”