The association study of genetic variants with developing musical aptitude in humans

The development of musical abilities, including absolute pitch, musical memory, rhythm sense, and musicality, at a high degree is determined by a hereditary component (up to 68 %). The studies implementing a genome-wide linkage and association approach to musical aptitude have revealed more than 100 genetic loci. This spectrum is comprised of the genes encoding for transcription factors and those responsible for neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, genes fixed as a result of positive selection of musicality, and those related to inner ear formation. Since no studies linking musical aptitude with genes have been previously conducted in Russia, the present study aimed at replicating the association of 17 previously identified genetic variants with developing musical abilities in Russians. Genotyping of SNPs in the GATA2, PCDH7, UNC5C, ASAP1, SBSPON, DCBLD2, KALRN, VLDLR, OTOF, GRIN2B, FoxP1, FoxP2, BDNF, EGR1, and SNCA genes was performed using competitive allele-specific PCR in a sample of students who underwent rigorous contest selection at admission to the conservatory and in the corresponding control group. A series of logistic regression analyses were used both to evaluate the main effect of SNP and to identify the best prognostic model based on various loci. The mathematical model obtained by including only statistically significant SNPs consisted of GATA2 rs9854612, SNCA rs356168, rs3910105, ASAP1 rs3057, and VLDLR rs1454626 (р = 0.0018, pseudo r2 = 0.188, AUC = 0.791). The addition of all examined SNPs as predictors enabled the construction of a statistically significant model with a higher predictive ability (р = 0.012, pseudo r2 = 0.380, AUC = 0.889). The results revealed indicate a potential cumulative gene effect, confirming the involvement of dopaminergic and GABAergic neurotransmission, the reelin pathway and the role of alpha-synuclein in musicality formation.