case report Among all cultures, people find music an important part of their lives. Music has   psychological benefits and can generate several strong physiological responses. Recently, researchers have identified music to influence the brain reward circuitry, including the nucleus accumbens. Studying musical preferences in patients who have undergone deep brain stimulation (dbs) of the nucleus accumbens (nacc) may shed some light upon the neurobiology of music. We describe a 60-year-old man diagnosed with therapy-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd), who was successfully treated with dbs of the nacc. Six months after chronic dbs the patient suddenly displayed a distinct and exclusive musical preference for Johnny Cash. In the doubleblind, sham-controlled phase of the study, when the stimulation was turned off without awareness of the patient, the patient kept listening simply and solely to Johnny Cash.
method Imaging studies suggest that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder may have a less responsive dopaminergic reward circuitry. Altering activity in the brain reward circuitry by means of dbs may alter musical liking.