Abstract
BACKGROUND: A biological model of auditory learning posits that the auditory cortex interacts with the cognitive, sensorimotor, and reward systems to improve sound learning in real-world listening. Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in fine-grained pitch discrimination. Although previous studies have investigated the auditory processing, sensorimotor and cognitive abilities of amusia, the characteristics of musical reward in amusia remain unclear. METHOD: We recruited 44 individuals with congenital amusia (22 females; 19.66 ± 1.92years), identified with the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA; cut-off ≤ 21.5) and 44 matched controls(23 females; 19.61 ± 1.65years). Participants completed the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire(BMRQ) to assess derived pleasure from engagement in musical activities, and the Multiple Mood Scale (MMS) to evaluate emotional experiences (heightened, tragic, romantic, blithe) elicited by minor- and major-key music. RESULTS: The amusia group reported lower overall BMRQ scores and lower scores on all five BMRQ subscales (social reward, mood regulation, emotional evocation, sensory-motor and musical seeking) compared to controls. For the musical emotion task, both groups experienced similar musical emotions for major music, whereas the amusia group rated minor-key music as significantly less tragic and more blithe. Additionally, overall BMRQ scores were negatively associated with blithe and heightened ratings for major-key music, whereas these associations were positive in controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest individuals with amusia exhibit music-specific deficits in the pleasure derived from music, together with an alteration in emotion experience to minor-key music. Overall, the findings indicate an alteration in the use of pitch-derived cues when evaluating musical emotions and their relation to reward. From a reward perspective, these findings guide neuroimaging studies toward clarifying how pitch-based cues influence music-induced emotion experiences in congenital amusia.