Preferred musical attribute dimensions underlie individual differences in music-induced analgesia

Music-induced analgesia (MIA) is a phenomenon that describes when listening to music influences pain perception. The heterogeneity of music used in MIA studies leads to a problem of “a specific effect for an unspecified stimulus”. To address this, we use a previously established model of musical preferences that categorizes the multidimensional sonic space of music into three basic dimensions: Arousal, Valence and Depth. Participants (N = 78) entered an experimental pain stimulation while listening to compilations of short musical excerpts characteristic of each of the three attribute dimensions. Results showed an effect of music attribute preferences on average pain (p < 0.01), maximal pain (p < 0.001) and pain tolerance (p < 0.001) controlling for musical attributes and order effects. This suggests that individual preferences for music attributes play a significant role in MIA and that music in clinical contexts should not be chosen arbitrarily but according to individual preferences.