The shared genetic architecture and evolution of human language and musical rhythm
This study aimed to test theoretical predictions over biological underpinnings of previously documented phenotypic correlations between human language-related and musical rhythm traits. Here, after identifying significant genetic correlations between rhythm, dyslexia and various language-related traits, we adapted multivariate methods to capture genetic signals common to genome-wide association studies of rhythm (N = 606,825) and dyslexia (N = 1,138,870). The results revealed 16 pleiotropic loci (P < 5 × 10<sup>-8</sup>) jointly associated with rhythm impairment and dyslexia, and intricate shared genetic and neurobiological architectures. The joint genetic signal was enriched for foetal and adult brain cell-specific regulatory regions, highlighting complex cellular composition in their shared underpinnings. Local genetic correlation with a key white matter tract (the left superior longitudinal fasciculus-I) substantiated hypotheses about auditory-motor connectivity as a genetically influenced, evolutionarily relevant neural endophenotype common to rhythm and language processing. Overall, we provide empirical evidence of multiple aspects of shared biology linking language and musical rhythm, contributing novel insight into the evolutionary relationships between human musicality and linguistic communication traits.
Authors
- Else Eising (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9819-1260)
- Jared O’Connell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3427-0466)
- Will Freyman
- Gökberk Alagöz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0530-2780)
- Ethan M. Jewett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4857-5431)
- Michel Guillaume Nivard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-1888)
- Anjali J. Shastri
- G. David Poznik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4427-3556)
- Shubham Saini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1900-0284)
- Meghan E. Moreno
- Morgan Schumacher
- Stella Aslibekyan
- Jingchunzi Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9671-2568)
- Steven J. Micheletti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3842-0946)
- Yunxuan Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8690-4008)
- Dominique T. Nguyen
- Sarah L. Elson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3211-3750)
- Julie M. Granka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7571-9050)
- Barry Hicks
- David A. Hinds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4911-803X)
- Chris German (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2717-5316)
- Alan Kwong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0779-7126)
- Michelle Luciano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7306-3008)
- Karl Heilbron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4776-1723)
- Katelyn Kukar
- Aaron A. Petrakovitz
- Yasmina Mekki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5733-9721)
- Pierre Fontanillas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8944-4454)
- Ninad S. Chaudhary (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1350-1093)
- Alejandro Hernandez
- Reyna L. Gordon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1643-6979)
- Alexandra Reynoso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9194-8344)
- Keng‐Han Lin
- Catherine H. Weldon
- Peter Wilton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1591-588X)
- Teresa Filshtein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4008-8943)
- Jessica Bielenberg
- Yanyu Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8893-6505)
- Elizabeth Babalola
- Simon E. Fisher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-1996)
- Daniella Coker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-067X)
- Corinna D. Wong
- Qiaojuan Jane Su
- Giacomo Bignardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7439-0684)
- Suyash Shringarpure (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6464-2668)
- Leah Selcer
- Emily DelloRusso
- Xin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3352-6829)
- Wei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8180-2886)
- Sayantan Das (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6346-1590)
- Nicholas Eriksson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2031-2872)
- Priyanka Nandakumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2739-7269)
- Joyce Y. Tung
- Zach Fuller
- Katarzyna Bryc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7659-1056)
- Nancy J. Cox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9315-0830)
- Adam Auton
- Janie F. Shelton
- Robert K. Bell
- Bianca A. Llamas
- Susana A. Tat
- Vinh Tran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6203-6682)
- Matthew H. McIntyre
- Jonathan Bowes
Institutions
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (NL)
- 23andMe (United States) (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (DE)
- MRC Epidemiology Unit (GB)
- Vanderbilt Health (US)
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Human Behaviour
- Published
- 2024-11-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02051-y
- Citations
- 27
- Primary Topic
- Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.25
Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders