Genetic underpinnings of chills from art and music

Abstract Art can evoke strong emotional responses in humans. Here, we examine genetic contributions to chills, a marker of such responses. We gather self-reports from a genotyped sample of thousands of partly related individuals from the Netherlands (N =15,606). Using genomic relationships based on common single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, we find that up to 29% of the variation in proneness to aesthetic (visual art and poetry) and music chills can be explained by familial relatedness effects, one-fourth of which is attributed to SNP variation. Furthermore, we reveal a moderate genetic correlation of .58 between aesthetic and music chills, pointing to shared genetic variation affecting susceptibility to strong emotional responses across different art forms. Finally, we find that a polygenic index (PGI) capturing openness to experiences, including propensities towards art (N = 234,880), is associated with susceptibilities both to aesthetic and music chills. Our results show that additive genetic variation, but also familial relatedness beyond shared common SNPs, contributes to proneness to chills from artistic, poetic, and musical expressions. These results open up a promising path towards studying the human attitude towards art, via both state-of-the-art genomics and intergenerational models of transmission. Author Summary Many people experience chills when listening to music, reading poetry, or viewing art. Yet not everyone feels these reactions in the same way. These differences provide a window into how our brains and bodies respond to art, revealing individual variation in emotional experiences. To investigate what drives these differences, we analysed data from over 15,000 participants with available genetic information, examining whether DNA variation could help explain why some people are more prone to these intense responses. We estimated that roughly 30% of the variation in chills is linked to family-related factors, of which about one fourth was attributable to common DNA variants. Some genetic influences appear to be shared across music, poetry, and art, and are associated with individual openness to experience and general artistic interests, while others may be unique to each domain. These results suggest that genetics contributes to how strongly people respond to cultural experiences and pave the way for future studies on the genetics of sensitivity to art and music experiences.