Abstract
Uncovering the genetic underpinnings of musical ability and engagement is a foundational step for exploring their wide-ranging associations with cognition, health, and neurodevelopment. Prior studies have focused on using twin and family designs, demonstrating moderate heritability of musical phenotypes. The current study used genome-wide complex trait analysis and polygenic score (PGS) approaches utilizing genotype data to examine genetic influences on two musicality traits (rhythmic perception and music engagement) in N = 1792 unrelated adults in the Vanderbilt Online Musicality Study. Meta-analyzed heritability estimates (including a replication sample of Swedish individuals) were 31% for rhythmic perception and 12% for self-reported music engagement. A PGS derived from a recent study on beat synchronization ability predicted both rhythmic perception (β = 0.11) and music engagement (β = 0.19) in our sample, suggesting that genetic influences underlying self-reported beat synchronization ability also influence individuals' rhythmic discrimination aptitude and the degree to which they engage in music. Cross-trait analyses revealed a modest contribution of PGSs from several nonmusical traits (from the cognitive, personality, and circadian chronotype domains) to individual differences in musicality (β = -0.06 to 0.07). This work sheds light on the complex relationship between the genetic architecture of musical rhythm processing, beat synchronization, music engagement, and other nonmusical traits.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 140-154 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
| Volume | 1521 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 30 Jan 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2023 |
Keywords
- Auditory Perception
- Cognition
- Individuality
- Music
- Perception
- Phenotype
- beat synchronization
- heritability
- musicality
- polygenic risk score
- rhythm