Jane Gitschier
As a geneticist, Jane Gitschier, PhD, is interested in teasing out the relative contributions of genes and environment on behavior. For more than a decade, she and former UCSF colleague Nelson Freimer, PhD, now at UCLA, have been exploring this question by studying the capacity that some people have for "perfect pitch," the ability to instantly and precisely identify a musical note.
In 1998, the UCSF team reported results of a survey study of 612 professional and student musicians nationwide in the
American Journal for Human Genetics. In that study, the researchers reported that 40 percent of those who began formal musical training by age four reported developing perfect pitch. In contrast, only four percent of those who began training after age nine did. The decline in between was remarkably steady.
Two years later, the researchers found that musicians with perfect pitch were four times more likely to report a family member with perfect pitch than those without it. Forty eight percent of those with perfect pitch said they had a first degree relative with the skill, while only 14 percent of those without perfect pitch did.
The study, while interesting in itself, also identified perfect pitch as a model trait for exploring the relative roles of "nature and nurture" in human behavior, says Gitschier, who is herself a singer, but without perfect pitch.
The findings may offer insights into other traits, as well, she says, such as language ability and, more broadly, brain development.
The University of California Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study employs a web-based survey and a pitch-labeling test to collect data on perfect pitch. The survey results on 2,213 individuals, who entered the study over a 3-year period, were notable.
These results are reported in the current issue of
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. National Public Radio's Joe Palca reported on the finding yesterday on
All Things Considered.
The web-based perfect pitch study is ongoing, and will include a genetics component. Some participants, based on their survey results, will be asked if they would be interested in providing a blood sample, which will show their DNA. The primary goal, says Gitschier, is to identify the genes that are involved in perfect pitch. To participate in the on-line survey, visit the
Absolute Pitch Study website.
Dichotomy and Perceptual Distortions in Absolute Pitch Ability
E. Alexandra Athos, Barbara Levinson, Amy Kistler, Jason Zemansky, Alan Bostrom, Nelson Freimer, and Jane Gitschier
PNAS, early publication online August 27, 2007
Abstract |
Full Text (PDF) |
Related Links:
California Scientists Search for Perfect Pitch
All Things Considered, NPR, August 28, 2007
Perfect Pitch: "You've Either Got It or You Don't"
Scientific American, August 29, 2007
Genetically Set for Perfect Pitch You Might Be, But Without Early Training Don't Expect to Discern C
UCSF News Release, January 30, 1998
Name That Tone: Scientists Look for Perfect Pitch
UCSF Daybreak, June 9, 1997
University of California Absolute Pitch Study
