Domain specific traits predict achievement in music and multipotentiality

Previous research shows that individuals choose careers based on the relative strengths of various traits. More debated however, is how specific combinations of traits predict individual differences in professional achievements. General intelligence is often proposed to be the best predictor of eminence, but some studies suggest that more specific traits can be relatively important when performance depends on specific skills and expertise. Here we identified a comprehensive set of variables relevant for music achievement (intelligence, auditory ability, absolute pitch, Big-five personality traits, psychosis proneness, music flow proneness, childhood environment and music practice), and tested how they predicted level of musicianship (non-musicians vs. amateur musicians vs. professional musicians) and number of achievements among professional musicians. We used web survey data from a total of 2150 individuals, and generalized additive models that can also reveal non-linear relationships. The results largely confirmed our three main hypotheses: (i) non-musicians, amateur musicians, and professional musicians are best differentiated by domain specific abilities, personality traits, and childhood factors; (ii) largely the same significant predictors are also associated with the number of creative achievements within professional musicians; (iii) individuals who reach a professional level in two domains (here science and music) possess the union of the relevant traits of both domains. In addition, many of the associations between predictors and achievement were non-linear. This study confirms that in music, and potentially in other occupational fields where performance relies on specific competences, domain relevant characteristics may be better predictors of engagement and creative achievement than broad traits

Steady-state responses to concurrent melodies: source distribution, top-down, and bottom-up attention

Humans can direct attentional resources to a single sound occurring simultaneously among others to extract the most behaviourally relevant information present. To investigate this cognitive phenomenon in a precise manner, we used frequency-tagging to separate neural auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) that can be traced back to each auditory stimulus, from the neural mix elicited by multiple simultaneous sounds. Using a mixture of 2 frequency-tagged melody streams, we instructed participants to selectively attend to one stream or the other while following the development of the pitch contour. Bottom-up attention towards either stream was also manipulated with salient changes in pitch. Distributed source analyses of magnetoencephalography measurements showed that the effect of ASSR enhancement from top-down driven attention was strongest at the left frontal cortex, while that of bottom-up driven attention was dominant at the right temporal cortex. Furthermore, the degree of ASSR suppression from simultaneous stimuli varied across cortical lobes and hemisphere. The ASSR source distribution changes from temporal-dominance during single-stream perception, to proportionally more activity in the frontal and centro-parietal cortical regions when listening to simultaneous streams. These findings are a step forward to studying cognition in more complex and naturalistic soundscapes using frequency-tagging

Investigating the relationship between childhood music practice and pitch-naming ability in professional musicians and a population-based twin sample

The relationship between pitch-naming ability and childhood onset of music training is well established and thought to reflect both genetic predisposition and music training during a critical period. However, the importance of the amount of practice during this period has not been investigated. In a population sample of twins (N = 1447, 39% male, 367 complete twin pairs) and a sample of 290 professional musicians (51% male), we investigated the role of genes, age of onset of playing music and accumulated childhood practice on pitch-naming ability. A significant correlation between pitch-naming scores for monozygotic (r = .27, p < .001) but not dizygotic twin pairs (r = −.04, p = .63) supported the role of genetic factors. In professional musicians, the amount of practice accumulated between ages 6 and 11 predicted pitch-naming accuracy (p = .025). In twins, age of onset was no longer a significant predictor once practice was considered. Combined, these findings are in line with the notion that pitch-naming ability is associated with both genetic factors and amount of early practice, rather than just age of onset per se. This may reflect a dose–response relation between practice and pitch-naming ability in genetically predisposed individuals. Alternatively, children who excel at pitch-naming may have an increased tendency to practice

Genome-wide association study of musical beat synchronization demonstrates high polygenicity

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 × 10−8) 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

The Swedish Twin Registry : establishment of a biobank and other recent developments

The Swedish Twin Registry (STR) today contains more than 194,000 twins and more than 75,000 pairs have zygosity determined by an intra-pair similarity algorithm, DNA, or by being of opposite sex. Of these, approximately 20,000, 25,000, and 30,000 pairs are monozygotic, same-sex dizygotic, and opposite-sex dizygotic pairs, respectively. Since its establishment in the late 1950s, the STR has been an important epidemiological resource for the study of genetic and environmental influences on a multitude of traits, behaviors, and diseases. Following large investments in the collection of biological specimens in the past 10 years we have now established a Swedish twin biobank with DNA from 45,000 twins and blood serum from 15,000 twins, which effectively has also transformed the registry into a powerful resource for molecular studies. We here describe the main projects within which the new collections of both biological samples as well as phenotypic measures have been collected. Coverage by year of birth, zygosity determination, ethnic heterogeneity, and influences of in vitro fertilization are also described.VetenskapsrådetNIHSSFHjärt- och LungfondenAstma- och AllergiförbundetAccepte

Thinking Outside a Less Intact Box: Thalamic Dopamine D2 Receptor Densities Are Negatively Related to Psychometric Creativity in Healthy Individuals

Several lines of evidence support that dopaminergic neurotransmission plays a role in creative thought and behavior. Here, we investigated the relationship between creative ability and dopamine D2 receptor expression in healthy individuals, with a focus on regions where aberrations in dopaminergic function have previously been associated with psychotic symptoms and a genetic liability to schizophrenia. Scores on divergent thinking tests (Inventiveness battery, Berliner Intelligenz Struktur Test) were correlated with regional D2 receptor densities, as measured by Positron Emission Tomography, and the radioligands [11C]raclopride and [11C]FLB 457. The results show a negative correlation between divergent thinking scores and D2 density in the thalamus, also when controlling for age and general cognitive ability. Hence, the results demonstrate that the D2 receptor system, and specifically thalamic function, is important for creative performance, and may be one crucial link between creativity and psychopathology. We suggest that decreased D2 receptor densities in the thalamus lower thalamic gating thresholds, thus increasing thalamocortical information flow. In healthy individuals, who do not suffer from the detrimental effects of psychiatric disease, this may increase performance on divergent thinking tests. In combination with the cognitive functions of higher order cortical networks, this could constitute a basis for the generative and selective processes that underlie real life creativity

Origins and genetic legacy of prehistoric dogs

Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to what extent it was linked to humans. We sequenced 27 ancient dog genomes and found that all dogs share a common ancestry distinct from present-day wolves, with limited gene flow from wolves since domestication but substantial dog-to-wolf gene flow. By 11,000 years ago, at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified, demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs during the Paleolithic. Coanalysis with human genomes reveals aspects of dog population history that mirror humans, including Levant-related ancestry in Africa and early agricultural Europe. Other aspects differ, including the impacts of steppe pastoralist expansions in West and East Eurasia and a near-complete turnover of Neolithic European dog ancestry

Neuron-glial Interactions

Although lagging behind classical computational neuroscience, theoretical and computational approaches are beginning to emerge to characterize different aspects of neuron-glial interactions. This chapter aims to provide essential knowledge on neuron-glial interactions in the mammalian brain, leveraging on computational studies that focus on structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) of such interactions in the healthy brain. Although our understanding of the need of neuron-glial interactions in the brain is still at its infancy, being mostly based on predictions that await for experimental validation, simple general modeling arguments borrowed from control theory are introduced to support the importance of including such interactions in traditional neuron-based modeling paradigms.Junior Leader Fellowship Program by “la Caixa” Banking Foundation (LCF/BQ/LI18/11630006

Development and Validation of the Computerised Adaptive Beat Alignment Test (CA-BAT)

Beat perception is increasingly being recognised as a fundamental musical ability. A number of psychometric instruments have been developed to assess this ability, but these tests do not take advantage of modern psychometric techniques, and rarely receive systematic validation. The present research addresses this gap in the literature by developing and validating a new test, the Computerised Adaptive Beat Alignment Test (CA-BAT), a variant of the Beat Alignment Test (BAT) that leverages recent advances in psychometric theory, including item response theory, adaptive testing, and automatic item generation. The test is constructed and validated in four empirical studies. The results support the reliability and validity of the CA-BAT for laboratory testing, but suggest that the test is not well-suited to online testing, owing to its reliance on fne perceptual discrimination