Novelty in the brain's reward network : an fMRI investigation into the neural correlates of music-induced feelings of novelty

![CDATA[BACKGROUND: Novelty can act as an intrinsic reward (Düzel et al., 2010), motivate exploratory behaviour (Silvia et al., 2009; Schomaker & Meeter, 2015), and increase learning and memory (Davis et al., 2004). The detection of novelty is thought to induce feelings of reward through modulation of the dopaminergic system, including frontal regions in the brain (Berns et al., 1997; Bunzeck et al., 2011). Music has also been shown to activate these regions, notably during predictive processing. Errors in prediction during music listening can lead to feelings of surprise and reward, with accompanying activation in brain regions such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), areas also implicated in the experience of novelty (Koelsch et al., 2005; Omigie et al., 2013; Salimpoor et al., 2013). Taken together, findings to date suggest a role for novelty in music’s ability to produce feelings of reward. However, the neural correlates of music-induced novelty have not yet been explored.]]