Genes For Hearing Linked With Musical Aptitude

If you ever struggled through piano lessons as a kid, you might’ve wondered if your mind and body just weren’t cut out for tickling those keys — no matter how many times your music teacher insisted that practice would eventually make perfect. And although practice doesn’t hurt, a new study finds that certain genes may also play major roles in the development of musical aptitude. The researchers, led by University of Helsinki medical geneticist Irma Järvelä, began by gathering a sample group of 767 children and adults. The investigators tested the volunteers for musical perceptiveness, using several standard tests that measure accuracy of perception for pitch, sound timing and melodic patterns. The researchers also gathered blood samples from the volunteers. Using a method called linkage analysis, the researchers then searched for correlations between the volunteers’ musical aptitude scores and their genes. And before long, a variety of linkages became clear: ...