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Cerebral glucose utilisation during musical emotions: A multimodal functional PET/MRI study
Vesa Putkinen1, Andreas Hahn2, Jouni Tuisku1
1Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku Finland; Turku University Hospital, Turku Finland.
Neuroimage
|June 6, 2026
Summary
This study combined PET and fMRI to measure brain activity during music listening. PET revealed increased glucose metabolism in reward areas, while fMRI showed different network deactivations, highlighting complementary brain imaging techniques.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Psychology
Background:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals shows music activates auditory, motor, and emotional brain networks.
- BOLD-fMRI reflects vascular responses, which may not fully represent underlying neural activity.
- Glucose metabolism, measured by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) functional positron emission tomography (fPET), is closely linked to neural activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neurometabolic and neurovascular responses during pleasurable music listening using simultaneous fPET and fMRI.
- To compare glucose metabolism changes with hemodynamic responses in the brain during music perception.
- To explore the complementary roles of fPET and fMRI in understanding brain dynamics during aesthetic reward processing.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose functional positron emission tomography (fPET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were employed.
- Thirty-five female participants underwent 90-minute PET-MRI scans while listening to self-selected pleasurable music and control stimuli.
- Music-evoked changes in glucose consumption (fPET) and hemodynamic responses (fMRI) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- fPET revealed increased glucose consumption in auditory and motor cortices, and reward regions (nucleus accumbens, caudate, insula, orbitofrontal cortex) during music listening.
- fPET and fMRI results showed overlap, but also discrepancies, such as nucleus accumbens activation in fPET not seen in fMRI.
- Default mode network deactivation was observed with fMRI but not fPET during music processing.
Conclusions:
- Neurometabolic (fPET) and neurovascular (fMRI) processes are complementary in capturing brain responses to music.
- Simultaneous fPET-fMRI provides a more comprehensive understanding of brain dynamics during aesthetic reward experiences.
- The study offers novel insights into the dissociation between neural activity and hemodynamic responses in reward circuitry.
