Brain roots of music depreciation
By Bruce Bower
Some people are inept at all things musical, whether it’s playing an instrument or just recognizing a melody. Preliminary data suggest that these individuals’ brains are, literally, out of tune.
Neuroscientists Krista L. Hyde and Isabelle Peretz, both of the University of Montreal, subjected 10 volunteers with these musical deficits to pitch shifts comparable to those that occur when someone plays one key and then the next key on a piano. None of the volunteers noticed a difference between the tones.