Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
220,782 studies31 sourcesUpdated 10 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNeuroImage

Cerebral glucose utilisation during musical emotions: A multimodal functional PET/MRI study

  • Vesa Putkinen1,2
  • Andreas Hahn3,4
  • Jouni Tuisku5,6
  • Harri Harju5,7
  • Kerttu Seppälä8,6
  • Anna K. Kirjavainen9,6
  • Johan Rajander10,11
  • Jussi Hirvonen12,2
  • Lauri Nummenmaa5,6
12 affiliations
  1. 1Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku Finland; Turku University Hospital, Turku Finland. Electronic address: [email protected]
  2. 2University of Turku
  3. 3Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Comprehensive Center for Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health (C3NMH), Medical University of Vienna, Austria
  4. 4Medical University of Vienna
  5. 5Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku Finland; Turku University Hospital, Turku Finland
  6. 6Turku PET Centre
  7. 7Turun Yliopisto
  8. 8Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku Finland; Turku University Hospital, Turku Finland; Department of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
  9. 9Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku Finland
  10. 10Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
  11. 11Abo Akademi
  12. 12Department of Radiology, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, Turku Finland; Medical Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Tampere University, Finland
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated music-induced activation of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal across brain networks associated with auditory perception, motor control, and emotion. However, BOLD-fMRI reflects vascular responses that may not fully capture underlying neural activity. Here, we used simultaneous [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) functional positron emission tomography (fPET) and fMRI to examine glucose metabolism closely linked to neural activity, alongside hemodynamic responses during pleasurable music listening. Thirty-five female participants listened to self-selected pleasurable music and control stimuli while undergoing 90-minute PET-MRI scans. In fPET, the music > control contrast revealed music-evoked increase in glucose consumption in auditory and motor cortices, as well as reward-related regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. The fPET and fMRI results showed substantial overlap though some discrepancies were also observed. Notably, the NAc exhibited increased glucose consumption in fPET but showed no activation in fMRI. Conversely, deactivation of the default mode network during music processing was only observed with fMRI. These results highlight the complementary nature of neurometabolic and neurovascular processes and offer novel insights into their dynamics during the processing of aesthetic rewards.

Related

  1. Individualized brain-body signatures of positive emotions revealed by large-scale multimodal neurophysiological recording
    M. Bijanzadeh, B. Nandi, V. Wang +10
    bioRxivPreprintCC BY-NC-NDFull textNeurosciencebioRxiv
  2. Functional connectivity in cerebral visual impairment: implications for daily visual behaviors
    Negin Nadvar, Chan-Mi Kim, Marie Drottar +1
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textNeuroscienceCrossref
  3. Multimodal Sensitivity Enhancement of Binding-based Diagnostic Assays Using Functional Hydrogels
    P. Rajurkar, S. D. Wise, A. Sarkar
    bioRxivPreprintAll rights reservedFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
  4. Functional characterization of the 26RFa/orexin neurons of the lateral hypothalamic area reveals their key role in the control of glucose homeostasis
    M. Devere, C. Lusurier, S. Takhlidjt +11
    bioRxivPreprintCC BYFull textNeurosciencebioRxiv
  5. Biosynthetic, genetic, taxonomic and functional diversity of glucose-dependent pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) producing rhizobacteria
    Mansi Godhasara, Lavina Takhtani, Aditi Buch
    Frontiers in MicrobiologyPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0MicrobiologyFrontiersCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{putkinen2026cerebral,
  title = {{Cerebral glucose utilisation during musical emotions: A multimodal functional PET/MRI study}},
  author = {Vesa Putkinen and Andreas Hahn and Jouni Tuisku and Harri Harju and Kerttu Seppälä and Anna K. Kirjavainen and Johan Rajander and Jussi Hirvonen and Lauri Nummenmaa},
  journal = {NeuroImage},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122035},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122035},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Cerebral glucose utilisation during musical emotions: A multimodal functional PET/MRI study
AU  - Vesa Putkinen
AU  - Andreas Hahn
AU  - Jouni Tuisku
AU  - Harri Harju
AU  - Kerttu Seppälä
AU  - Anna K. Kirjavainen
AU  - Johan Rajander
AU  - Jussi Hirvonen
AU  - Lauri Nummenmaa
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/05
JO  - NeuroImage
DO  - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122035
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122035
AB  - Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated music-induced activation of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal across brain networks associated with auditory perception, motor control, and emotion. However, BOLD-fMRI reflects vascular responses that may not fully capture underlying neural activity. Here, we used simultaneous [ 18 F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) functional positron emission tomography (fPET) and fMRI to examine glucose metabolism closely linked to neural activity, alongside hemodynamic responses during pleasurable music listening. Thirty-five female participants listened to self-selected pleasurable music and control stimuli while undergoing 90-minute PET-MRI scans. In fPET, the music > control contrast revealed music-evoked increase in glucose consumption in auditory and motor cortices, as well as reward-related regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. The fPET and fMRI results showed substantial overlap though some discrepancies were also observed. Notably, the NAc exhibited increased glucose consumption in fPET but showed no activation in fMRI. Conversely, deactivation of the default mode network during music processing was only observed with fMRI. These results highlight the complementary nature of neurometabolic and neurovascular processes and offer novel insights into their dynamics during the processing of aesthetic rewards.
SN  - 1053-8119
SN  - 1095-9572
ER  -