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Related Experiment Videos

Absolute pitch in blind musicians.

Roy H Hamilton1, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Gottfried Schlaug

  • 1Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Avenue, Palmer 1, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Neuroreport
|April 10, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Blind musicians show a higher prevalence of absolute pitch (AP) than sighted musicians. Neural mechanisms for AP in blind individuals may differ, as indicated by brain imaging variations.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Music Psychology
  • Auditory Perception

Background:

  • Absolute pitch (AP) is a rare ability, typically found in less than 20% of musicians.
  • Previous research suggests structural brain differences in sighted musicians with AP.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence and neural correlates of absolute pitch in early blind musicians.
  • To compare the characteristics of AP in blind versus sighted musicians.

Main Methods:

  • Surveyed 46 early blind subjects for musical training and AP.
  • Analyzed brain MR images of a subset of blind AP musicians.
  • Compared findings with existing data on sighted AP musicians.

Main Results:

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  • 21 of 46 blind subjects had musical training; 12 (57.1%) reported AP, a significantly higher prevalence than in sighted musicians.
  • Blind AP musicians began musical training later on average than sighted AP musicians.
  • Planum temporale asymmetry showed greater variability in blind AP musicians compared to the left-sided asymmetry typical in sighted AP musicians.

    • Conclusions:

    • The prevalence of absolute pitch is markedly higher in early blind musicians compared to sighted musicians.
    • Neural mechanisms underlying absolute pitch in blind musicians may differ from those in sighted musicians, suggested by distinct patterns of brain asymmetry.