Beethoven shapes female and male mice brains differently

Scientists in Israel have found that sounds experienced by mice early in life shape male and female auditory preferences, suggesting that the same experiences affect brain development differently according to sex. 

Scientists at EARA member the Hebrew University of Jerusalem exposed young mice to the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, non-music sounds or silence. After a few weeks, they exposed the same mice to different sounds and silence in chambers where the mice could navigate freely. Male mice exposed to silence or non-music sounds in early-life avoided music as adults, suggesting an aversion to new sound environments, while the ones that listened to Beethoven in early life preferred different sounds. Female mice, in contrast, were less affected by early life exposure to sounds and had mixed preferences in adulthood, despite their previous experiences. By recording the neural activity in their auditory cortex, they found higher activity in female mice that disliked music, but no connection between the brain activity of male mice and their sound preferences.  

"Our findings in mice intriguingly suggest that sound preferences rely on mechanisms that operate differently in males and females. Understanding those differences could shed light on how early sensory experiences shape emotional and cognitive development," said Israel Nelken, leader of the study published in Cell Reports.