Story perspectives

Friends' Shared Music Boosts Brain Synchrony, Therapy Potential

4/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

University of Pavia researchers found that friends listening to music together exhibit greater neural synchrony and more aligned pleasure responses.
In a study of 34 pairs (68 participants), functional near-infrared spectroscopy recorded higher prefrontal oxygenation and stronger brain-activity synchrony during face-to-face listening, especially for friends’ favorite songs, without raising overall pleasure ratings.
The French National Research Agency-funded study, led by Laura Ferreri and published in Cortex, could aid music-therapy development.

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Story summary

University of Pavia researchers found that friends listening to music together exhibit greater neural synchrony and more aligned pleasure responses.
In a study of 34 pairs (68 participants), functional near-infrared spectroscopy recorded higher prefrontal oxygenation and stronger brain-activity synchrony during face-to-face listening, especially for friends’ favorite songs, without raising overall pleasure ratings.
The French National Research Agency-funded study, led by Laura Ferreri and published in Cortex, could aid music-therapy development.