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Causal mechanisms linking the reward system to sleep-dependent memory consolidation

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 5:00 – 7:00 pm PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Sofia Simonetto-Rizk¹, Yanan Lui², Robert Zatorre², Emily Coffey¹; ¹Concordia University, ²McGill University

Music provides a powerful framework for studying neuroplasticity as it engages distributed brain networks and activates the reward system, particularly the striatum, via dopamine release. This dopaminergic activity not only enhances subjective pleasure but also facilitates learning and memory by promoting synaptic plasticity. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers a causal approach to probe this system where excitatory stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), functionally connected to the striatum, has been shown to increase music-evoked pleasure, while inhibitory stimulation suppresses it. Here, we report preliminary results from a within-subject experiment (N=24; 11 male, 13 female) investigating whether TMS-induced modulation of music-evoked reward influences musical learning and its consolidation across sleep. Participants completed two counterbalanced sessions of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS; excitatory) or continuous TBS (cTBS; inhibitory) over the left DLPFC. Before and after stimulation, participants rated the pleasantness of piano excerpts, and autonomic measures (electrodermal activity, heart-rate variability) were recorded. They then performed a melody-learning task, underwent immediate performance assessment, and wore a home EEG device overnight to capture sleep physiology (slow oscillations, spindle density). Performance retention was reassessed after 24 hours. Preliminary findings show that iTBS increased subjective pleasantness and physiological arousal compared to cTBS, with corresponding trends toward enhanced post-sleep retention. Exploratory analyses of sleep EEG are used to characterize relationships between stimulation conditions, sleep physiology, and overnight memory gains. These results support a causal role of reward system activation in motor skill learning and consolidation, advancing our understanding of how pleasure, neuroplasticity, and memory interact.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Audition