Per the predictive coding model, learning and culture are the major determinants of musical preferences.

Liking or disliking certain music also requires intact connection between auditory and limbic brain regions.

Music exercises the brain’s ability to make predictions, an essential skill for survival.

Consider this question: Why do we like the music we like? Were we born with musical preferences, or did we develop them over time through life experiences? This post, Part 2 of a 3-Part series, explores a theory that emphasizes the latter possibility. Known as predictive coding, this model argues that musical preferences are largely learned. Next month, we will look at a contrasting notion that stresses innate musical tendencies. Both approaches lean into the concept of embodiment, the overall theme of this series.

How does the brain turn the basic elements of music into sentiments (emotions and feelings)? How do rhythm and melody – timing and frequency patterns of sound waves – become experiences of joy, sadness, excitement, or comfort? According to predictive coding, the musical qualities we learn to value inform a certain brain system which musical elements to reward.

This system, located in the limbic region of the brain, is called the reward prediction error system (RPE), or simply the reward system.1 The RPE responds to predictions about the musical features we anticipate for two key reasons. First, the auditory cortex and the reward system are highly connected to one another.2 Second, a key role of the human brain is to forecast what will happen next; its ability to predict the next musical note is an expression of this function.

As we listen to music, the auditory regions of........

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