The Biological Foundations of Music: Insights from Congenital Amusia

The past decade of research has provided compelling evidence that the ability toengage with music is a fundamental human trait, and its biological basis is increas-ingly scrutinized. In this endeavor, the detailed study of individuals who havesevere musical problems are particularly informative because these deficiencieshave neurogenetic underpinnings. Such a musical disorder is termed “congenitalamusia,” an umbrella term for lifelong musical disabilities that cannot be attributedto mental retardation, deafness, lack of exposure, or brain damage after birth.Congenital amusia provides a natural experiment—a rare chance to examine thebiological basis of music by tracing causal links between genes, environment,brain, and behavior. Here, I review the main insights that the study of congenitalamusia has provided on the biological foundations of music. Key Wordsamusia, pitch, domain-specificity, neural connectivity, heritability, tone language,development.