Genetic underpinnings of chills from art and music

Author summary Many people experience chills when listening to music, reading poetry, or viewing art. Yet not everyone feels these reactions in the same way. These differences provide a window into how our brains and bodies respond to art, revealing individual variation in emotional experiences. To investigate what drives these differences, we analysed data from over 15,500 participants with available genetic information, examining whether DNA variation could help explain why some people are more prone to these intense responses. We estimated that roughly 30% of the variation in chills is linked to family-related factors, of which about one-fourth was attributable to common DNA variants. Some genetic influences appear to be shared across music, poetry, and art, and are associated with individual openness to experience, including general artistic interests, while others may be unique to each domain. These results suggest that genetics contributes to how strongly people respond to cultural experiences and pave the way for future studies on the genetics of sensitivity to art and music experiences.

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