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by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-04
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The study tested whether the supplementary motor area (SMA) has a causal role in the “groove” experience during music listening by applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (iTBS for excitatory, cTBS for inhibitory, and sham) over the SMA in 15 healthy participants across three separate sessions. After stimulation, participants rated urge-to-move and pleasure for high-groove versus low-groove music excerpts, and heart rate variability (HRV) was recorded as an exploratory physiological measure. Linear mixed-effects models showed pleasure ratings were higher after both iTBS and cTBS compared with sham, while urge-to-move ratings were not significantly affected. An exploratory analysis found that reduced log-transformed HRV predicted higher pleasure, and the authors note that future work is needed to clarify network mechanisms and the directionality between autonomic changes and groove-related pleasure. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.
Abstract
Pleasurable urge to move to music is often referred to as groove. Although previous studies have shown an association between the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the groove experience, its causal role remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether the SMA is causally involved in groove experience during music listening using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Fifteen healthy participants completed three sessions on separate days: excitatory stimulation (intermittent theta burst stimulation; iTBS) over the SMA, inhibitory stimulation (continuous theta burst stimulation; cTBS) over the SMA, and sham stimulation (iTBS or cTBS) over the vertex. After each stimulation session, participants listened to five high-groove and five low-groove musical excerpts and rated urge-to-move and pleasure on a 0–100 scale. Heart rate was additionally recorded as an exploratory physiological measure during music listening. Linear mixed-effects models (LMM) showed that pleasure ratings, but not urge-to-move ratings, were higher following both iTBS and cTBS compared with sham stimulation. In exploratory LMMs, reduced log-transformed heart rate variability (HRV) significantly predicted higher pleasure ratings. These findings suggest that SMA stimulation modulates the pleasurable component of the groove experience, likely via network-level mechanisms rather than a simple linear relationship between SMA excitability and pleasure. They also raise the possibility that reduced parasympathetic activity, reflected by lower HRV, mediates the stimulation-related increase in musical pleasure. Future studies should investigate the causal roles of other brain regions as well as clarify the directionality between autonomic changes and the groove experience.
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Abstract
Pleasurable urge to move to music is often referred to as groove. Although previous studies have shown an association between the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the groove experience, its causal role remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether the SMA is causally involved in groove experience during music listening using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Fifteen healthy participants completed three sessions on separate days: excitatory stimulation (intermittent theta burst stimulation; iTBS) over the SMA, inhibitory stimulation (continuous theta burst stimulation; cTBS) over the SMA, and sham stimulation (iTBS or cTBS) over the vertex. After each stimulation session, participants listened to five high-groove and five low-groove musical excerpts and rated urge-to-move and pleasure on a 0–100 scale. Heart rate was additionally recorded as an exploratory physiological measure during music listening. Linear mixed-effects models (LMM) showed that pleasure ratings, but not urge-to-move ratings, were higher following both iTBS and cTBS compared with sham stimulation. In exploratory LMMs, reduced log-transformed heart rate variability (HRV) significantly predicted higher pleasure ratings. These findings suggest that SMA stimulation modulates the pleasurable component of the groove experience, likely via network-level mechanisms rather than a simple linear relationship between SMA excitability and pleasure. They also raise the possibility that reduced parasympathetic activity, reflected by lower HRV, mediates the stimulation-related increase in musical pleasure. Future studies should investigate the causal roles of other brain regions as well as clarify the directionality between autonomic changes and the groove experience.
Competing Interest Statement
M.T. has submitted a patent related to robotic TMS and is the founder and CEO of Neuractice Inc., which develops and sells robotic TMS systems. The company had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or reporting.
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