Tone-Deafness Begins In Brain – Study
Maybe it is not your fault that you cannot carry a tune. According to new research that appears in the August 19th issue of the Journal of Neuroscience at least 10 percent of the population are tone deaf and it may be a disconnection between nerve fibers in the brain that is actually to blame for the condition.
Says Psyche Loui, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, one of the study’s authors, “The anomaly suggests that tone-deafness may be a previously undetected neurological syndrome similar to other speech and language disorders, in which connections between perceptual and motor regions are impaired,”
The authors utilized a sophisticated MRI based technique called diffusion tensor imaging in their work, which began by examining connections between the frontal and right temporal lobes of the brain. The study concentrated on the brain images of twenty subjects whom listening tests previously performed had identified as tone deaf, or as the scientific community terms it, suffering from amusia (which literally means a lack of music.)
In examining all the images the authors of the study found that a region called the arcuate fasciculus was smaller and had a lower fiber count in tone deaf people than those who were not. Even more striking was the apparent absence of the superior branch of the arcutate fasciculus in the right hemisphere of the brains of the tone deaf individuals. Researchers speculated that even if it were not entirely missing it might be so abnormally developed or deformed that it was not visible to even their advanced methods of neuro imaging.
Nina Kraus PhD of Northwestern University was not affiliated in any way with the study but does find its results to be interesting to say the least. “The findings are clear,” she said “They show that the arcuate fasciculus, a structure long-known to join perceptual and motor areas, has reduced connectivity in individuals with tone deafness. Beyond improving our understanding of the anatomical underpinnings of tone-deafness, this study provides new insight into a person’s ability to detect pitch,”
The same set of researchers has published studies on the subject before. They have previously demonstrated that those who have been deemed to be tone deaf cannot consciously hear their own singing voices, which may explain the seemingly misguided confidence of many a dreadful “American Idol” contestant.
Both sets of research were supported by the National Science Foundation, the Grammy Foundation and the National Institutes of Deafness and Communication Disorders.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I am a lifelong music teacher. I discovered early in my career that those people who were “tone deaf” all had some traumatic treatment at the hands of others (mean music teachers, choir directors, parents, etc.) when they were young (pre-teen to young teen), wherein their singing was roundly criticized. Many were publicly humiliated and stigmatized. Consequently, they stopped singing altogether and developed a deep fear and negative image about their own singing. In effect, they abandoned even trying to sing, some for many decades!
What I discovered is nothing short of miraculous! Traditionally, music teachers play (or sing) a note and ask the student to then match it. Most can, but those who can’t are often told they “can’t sing” and are labeled “tone deaf”. What I discovered is that for those people (at ANY age) who have thought that they just “can’t sing” and who even call themselves “tone deaf”, if I let THEM give the first tone, and then I match THEIR tone, then they can maintain that pitch (that I matched) very well. There immediately becomes a spark of confidence! They are singing with another person for the first time in their life!
Next, (after informing them of my plan so they are ready for it) I lower my pitch one half-step (a chromatic step), and 100% of the time, they can also then match that tone AND next, with my encouragement, RETURN to their original tone! 100% of the time! If I try to make them go UP a half-step the first time, they usually cannot do it. From the little successes of going down and then up gradually, their confidence broadens, and their control of their pitch matching steadily improves.
I have NEVER met any person that could not learn this way! I am now almost 57 and I discovered this technique when I was around 20 years old. My rate of success with supposedly “tone deaf” people is 100%, no fooling! One must be ultra patient and kind, and this must be done privately, with no observers, as the person is usually so traumatized from mistreatment as a child, that they so fear criticism and embarrassment. Do it right and it works!