Why some people are more naturally inclined to music than others

Washington: A new study has revealed that hearing and cognitive function affecting genes determine one's musical aptitude.

Researchers explained that extremes capacity or no capacity in musical aptitude, which is the ability to understand and perceive rhythm, pitch, timbre, tone durations, and formal structure in music, are rare within a population, with the majority of individuals having moderate aptitude.

Co-author Irma Jarvela said that this is a typical feature of a complex trait attributable to several underlying genes, and it is influenced to varying degrees by environmental factors, such as exposure to music or musical training.

This study is published in Journal BioEssays.