ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the main findings from molecular genetic studies on musical traits. Possible genetic substrates underlying basic music perception abilities have been investigated by Irma Jarvela and her collaborators in several large molecular genetic studies. The abilities to perceive tonal or rhythmic structures in music are more cognitively advanced forms of music perception than the pairwise discrimination of pitches or note durations. In a genome-wide copy number variation (CNV) analysis, Jarvela and her collaborators detected several copy number variable regions containing genes that influence neurodevelopment, learning, and memory. The findings are in line with an earlier molecular genetic study on music perception ability which implicated genes associated with inner-ear development and cognition. Using genome-wide transcriptional profiling, Jarvela's research team have investigated the effect of performing music on the human transcriptome in 10 professional musicians.
