If you struggle to pick up the beat of a song or mere tapping to the music in sync gets difficult for you, then it might not entirely be your fault.
A new study has found that these abilities have a genetic connection.
Expanding the knowledge of musical rhythm and its biological link, researchers from the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute collaborated with 23andMe in the new study publish in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Using data from 6,00,000 research participants, researchers were able to analyse even small genetic signals.
The researchers identified 69 genetic variants that were associate with beat synchronisation or the ability to sync your motion with music beats.
It was observe that many of the variants were in or near genes involve in neural function and early brain development.
It was also learn that beat synchronisation and biological rhythms such as breathing and walking shared the same genetic architecture.
Reyna Gordon, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and co-director of the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab Said :
“Rhythm is not just influence by a single gene — it is influenced by many hundreds of genes,”.
In the large-scale genome-wide association study, researchers made use of data from more than 6,00,000 research participants.
This enable them to identify the genetic alleles that were associate with the beat synchronisation ability of the participants.
According to David Hinds, PhD, a research fellow and statistical geneticist at 23andMe, the large data allow the researchers to analyse even small genetic signals.
The study highlight the relations between rhythm and health while exploring the involvement of biology in musicality.
While genetics plays a role in the variability in rhythm skills, researchers underline that environment was also a contributing factor.
Explaining the findings, professor of Psychology at Tufts University Aniruddh D. Patel Said :
“Musical beat processing has intriguing links to other aspects of cognition including speech processing and plays a key role in the positive effect of music on certain neurological disorders, including on gait in Parkinson’s disease.”
