Music makes us move even when we don't like it

The pleasurable urge to move to music -- to groove -- appears to be a physiological response independent of how much we generally enjoy music, according to a new article. That groove response is so strong it is even found in people with musical anhedonia, those who take little or no pleasure from music. Researchers compared groove responses to more than 50 short pieces of music in people with musical anhedonia and non-anhedonic controls and found that for people with anhedonia, the urge to move appears to drive their experience of pleasure. That suggests that the blunted pleasure sensation found in people with musical anhedonia is compensated by the urge to move.

The pleasurable urge to move to music -- to groove -- appears to be a physiological response independent of how much we generally enjoy music, according to a new article. That groove response is so strong it is even found in people with musical anhedonia, those who take little or no pleasure from music. Researchers compared groove responses to more than 50 short pieces of music in people with musical anhedonia and non-anhedonic controls and found that for people with anhedonia, the urge to move appears to drive their experience of pleasure. That suggests that the blunted pleasure sensation found in people with musical anhedonia is compensated by the urge to move.

Read more https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250211134148.htm