Study finds shared music listening synchronizes friends' brains and pleasure

2 articles · Updated · PsyPost · Apr 29

Published in Cortex, the study tracked 34 pairs of close friends using fNIRS as they listened alone or face-to-face to 15 songs, including each other's favourites.
Researchers found shared listening did not broadly raise overall enjoyment, but it increased moment-to-moment pleasure similarity and strengthened prefrontal reward responses, especially when hearing a friend's favourite songs together.
The findings suggest music helps social bonding by aligning emotional and neural states, though effects may differ with strangers; the team is also studying movement synchrony, memory and possible therapy applications.

Beyond emotions, does shared music listening physically alter our brains to become more like our friends'?

If a friend's music syncs our brains, can we prescribe playlists to treat social disorders like loneliness?

What happens to brain synchrony when friends have completely opposite and conflicting tastes in music?