A genome-wide linkage and association study of musical aptitude identifies loci containing genes related to inner ear development and neurocognitive functions

Abstract

Humans have developed the perception, production and processing of sounds into the art of music. A genetic contribution to these skills of musical aptitude has long been suggested. We performed a genome-wide scan in 76 pedigrees (767 individuals) characterized for the ability to discriminate pitch (SP), duration (ST) and sound patterns (KMT), which are primary capacities for music perception. Using the Bayesian linkage and association approach implemented in program package KELVIN, especially designed for complex pedigrees, several SNPs near genes affecting the functions of the auditory pathway and neurocognitive processes were identified. The strongest association was found at 3q21.3 (rs9854612) with combined SP, ST and KMT test scores (COMB). This region is located a few dozen kilobases upstream of the GATA binding protein 2 (GATA2) gene. GATA2 regulates the development of cochlear hair cells and the inferior colliculus (IC), which are important in tonotopic mapping. The highest probability of linkage was obtained for phenotype SP at 4p14, located next to the region harboring the protocadherin 7 gene, PCDH7. Two SNPs rs13146789 and rs13109270 of PCDH7 showed strong association. PCDH7 has been suggested to play a role in cochlear and amygdaloid complexes. Functional class analysis showed that inner ear and schizophrenia related genes were enriched inside the linked regions. This study is the first to show the importance of auditory pathway genes in musical aptitude.

Sing Chinese and tap Tagalog? Predicting individual differences in musical and phonetic aptitude using language families differing by sound-typology

“…However, auditory models have also argued that primary capacities influence musical aptitude, while secondary musical skills are environmentally shaped by the culture and individual training received (Karma, 1994). Evidence that musical aptitude is based on primary capacities that are gene related leading to an improvement of processing of auditory input, and to alterations of the auditory pathway, has already been provided (Oikkonen et al, 2015). Multigenerational family studies were also able to demonstrate that predisposing genes or variants are linked to musical aptitude (e.g.…”

Defining the biological bases of individual differences in musicality

“…No association for usual candidate genes (e.g. AVPR1A) [62] musical creativity self-report candidate genes analysis of phenotypic scores in 19 families (n ¼ 343) yielded heritabilities of 40% (composing), 46% (arranging), 62% (improvising) and 84% (composite score). Testing of genes AVPR1A, SLC6A4, COMT, DRD2 and TPH1 showed no significant associations after correction for multiple-testing [60] screen for CNVs study of five families (n ¼ 170) and 172 unrelated subjects.…”

“…The AVPR1A gene is one well-studied example [58 -61]. However, recent genome-wide screens failed to find significant effects for any prior-studied candidates, including AVPR1A [62,63]. (d ) CNVs.…”

“…Most recently, the Finnish group conducted a genomewide study of 767 individuals from 76 families, phenotyped with the music perception tests described above [62]. They screened hundreds of thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the genome, using these data to test not only for linkage, but also for association (box 2).…”

“…A series of studies investigated genetic contributions to musical aptitudes (at multiple levels from heritability to linkage mapping and association analyses) in an expanding sample of extended Finnish families (table 2) [59,60,62,64,74]. In the first of these studies [74], 15 families (234 people) were tested on a battery of music perception tests comprising the Karma Music Test [82], which measures participants' ability to detect structural changes in abstract sound patterns, and Seashore's Pitch and Rhythm Subtests, which are based on pairwise comparisons.…”