title: Detecting signatures of positive selection associated with musical aptitude in the human genome.
abstract: Abilities related to musical aptitude appear to have a long history in human evolution. To elucidate the molecular and evolutionary background of musical aptitude, we compared genome-wide genotyping data (641 K SNPs) of 148 Finnish individuals characterized for musical aptitude. We assigned signatures of positive selection in a case-control setting using three selection methods: haploPS, XP-EHH and FST. Gene ontology classification revealed that the positive selection regions contained genes affecting inner-ear development. Additionally, literature survey has shown that several of the identified genes were known to be involved in auditory perception (e.g. GPR98, USH2A), cognition and memory (e.g. GRIN2B, IL1A, IL1B, RAPGEF5), reward mechanisms (RGS9), and song perception and production of songbirds (e.g. FOXP1, RGS9, GPR98, GRIN2B). Interestingly, genes related to inner-ear development and cognition were also detected in a previous genome-wide association study of musical aptitude. However, the candidate genes detected in this study were not reported earlier in studies of musical abilities. Identification of genes related to language development (FOXP1 and VLDLR) support the popular hypothesis that music and language share a common genetic and evolutionary background. The findings are consistent with the evolutionary conservation of genes related to auditory processes in other species and provide first empirical evidence for signatures of positive selection for abilities that contribute to musical aptitude.
authors.affiliation: NUS Graduate School for Integrative Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117456, Singapore.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xuanyao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Chakravarthi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kanduri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oikkonen
authors.affiliation: DocMus Department, University of the Arts Helsinki, P.O. Box 86, 00251 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karma
authors.affiliation: Joensuu Conservatory, Rantakatu 31, 80100 Joensuu, Finland.
authors.forename: Pirre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raijas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ukkola-Vuoti
authors.affiliation: NUS Graduate School for Integrative Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117456, Singapore.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yik-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 63, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Järvelä
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001076:Aptitude; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005260:Female; D063990:Gene Ontology; D015894:Genome, Human; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D055815:Young Adult