Human Genomics and the Biocultural Origin of Music

Abstract

Music is an exclusive feature of humankind. It can be considered as a form of universal communication, only partly comparable to the vocalizations of songbirds. Many trends of research in this field try to address music origins, as well as the genetic bases of musicality. On one hand, several hypotheses have been made on the evolution of music and its role, but there is still debate, and comparative studies suggest a gradual evolution of some abilities underlying musicality in primates. On the other hand, genome-wide studies highlight several genes associated with musical aptitude, confirming a genetic basis for different musical skills which humans show. Moreover, some genes associated with musicality are involved also in singing and song learning in songbirds, suggesting a likely evolutionary convergence between humans and songbirds. This comprehensive review aims at presenting the concept of music as a sociocultural manifestation within the current debate about its biocultural origin and evolutionary function, in the context of the most recent discoveries related to the cross-species genetics of musical production and perception.

Att bli en sjungande tonårspojke: En livshistoria om att sjunga tillsammans med andra i skolan

“…Der er ofte tale om en kobling mellem almen-og specialpaedagogik (Hansen, 2019), men overordnet daekker begrebet "et samarbejde, hvor to eller flere personer med 4 Dette er i overensstemmelse med et evolutions-og socialpsykologisk perspektiv på musik. Musik har i et fylogenetisk perspektiv fungeret som et middel til at fremme tilknytning, mindske konflikter og øge tilbøjeligheden til at forfølge faelles interesser i en social gruppe (Dissanayake, 2001;Tarr et al, 2014;Beccacece et al, 2021).…”

Sensogenomics and the Biological Background Underlying Musical Stimuli: Perspectives for a New Era of Musical Research

“…The Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Helsinki has made a special contribution to the field, with several genomic studies on musical aptitude, perception, and practice [ 5 , 22 , 23 ], while Szyfter and Witt [ 24 ] recently presented a review study on genetics and musicality. The last review [ 25 ] introduced a stimulating narrative regarding the biocultural origin of music and its evolutionary function.…”

“…Besides, there is a recurrent association of AVPR1A gene, located on chromosome 12q, with different musical abilities: musical learning [32], musical perception [33], and musical memory [34,35]; and the SLC6A4 gene has been found to be associated with musical memory [35] and choral participation [36]. The most recent analysis by Szyfter and Witt [25], also supports that the strongest statistical association between genes and musicality was provided for genes AVPR1, SLC6A4, GALM, PCDH7, and GATA2, as well as a few chromosome bands, such as 8q13-21, 4q22, and 4q23.…”

Darwin’s sexual selection hypothesis revisited: Musicality increases sexual attraction in both sexes

“…Some evidence for a genetic basis for musicality, a necessary prerequisite for adaptation ( Croston et al, 2015 ), has accumulated ( Gingras et al, 2015 ; Mosing et al, 2015 ; Järvelä, 2018 ; Beccacece et al, 2021 ). In general, heritability depends on the specific aspect of musicality under consideration.…”