Title | Genome-wide association study of musical beat synchronization demonstrates high polygenicity. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Authors | Niarchou M, Gustavson DE, J Sathirapongsasuti F, Anglada-Tort M, Eising E, Bell E, McArthur E, Straub P, J McAuley D, Capra JA, Ullén F, Creanza N, Mosing MA, Hinds DA, Davis LK, Jacoby N, Gordon RL |
Corporate Authors | 23andMe Research Team |
Journal | Nat Hum Behav |
Volume | 6 |
Issue | 9 |
Pagination | 1292-1309 |
Date Published | 2022 09 |
ISSN | 2397-3374 |
Keywords | Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Multifactorial Inheritance, Music, Nucleotides, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide |
Abstract | Moving in synchrony to the beat is a fundamental component of musicality. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study to identify common genetic variants associated with beat synchronization in 606,825 individuals. Beat synchronization exhibited a highly polygenic architecture, with 69 loci reaching genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10) and single-nucleotide-polymorphism-based heritability (on the liability scale) of 13%-16%. Heritability was enriched for genes expressed in brain tissues and for fetal and adult brain-specific gene regulatory elements, underscoring the role of central-nervous-system-expressed genes linked to the genetic basis of the trait. We performed validations of the self-report phenotype (through separate experiments) and of the genome-wide association study (polygenic scores for beat synchronization were associated with patients algorithmically classified as musicians in medical records of a separate biobank). Genetic correlations with breathing function, motor function, processing speed and chronotype suggest shared genetic architecture with beat synchronization and provide avenues for new phenotypic and genetic explorations. |
DOI | 10.1038/s41562-022-01359-x |
Alternate Journal | Nat Hum Behav |
PubMed ID | 35710621 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC9489530 |
Grant List | UL1 TR000445 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States U19 HL065962 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States S10 RR025141 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States R01 HD074711 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States P50 GM115305 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States K18 DC017383 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States U01 HG006378 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States R35 GM127087 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States R01 DC016977 / DC / NIDCD NIH HHS / United States DP2 HD098859 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States RC2 GM092618 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States UL1 RR024975 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States R01 NS032830 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States U01 HG004798 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States UL1 TR002243 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States |