Järvelä Irma
Department of Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Mar 23. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13620.
When searching for genetic markers inherited together with musical aptitude, genes affecting inner ear development and brain function were identified. The alpha-synuclein gene (SNCA), located in the most significant linkage region of musical aptitude, was overexpressed when listening and performing music. The GATA-binding protein 2 gene (GATA2) was located in the best associated region of musical aptitude and regulates SNCA in dopaminergic neurons, thus linking DNA- and RNA-based studies of music-related traits together. In addition to SNCA, several other genes were linked to dopamine metabolism. Mutations in SNCA predispose to Lewy-body dementia and cause Parkinson disease in humans and affect song production in songbirds. Several other birdsong genes were found in transcriptome analysis, suggesting a common evolutionary background of sound perception and production in humans and songbirds. Regions of positive selection with musical aptitude contained genes affecting auditory perception, cognitive performance, memory, human language development, and song perception and production of songbirds. The data support the role of dopaminergic pathway and their link to the reward mechanism as a molecular determinant in positive selection of music. Integration of gene-level data from the literature across multiple species prioritized activity-dependent immediate early genes as candidate genes in musical aptitude and listening to and performing music.
在寻找与音乐天赋共同遗传的基因标记时，发现了影响内耳发育和大脑功能的基因。位于音乐天赋最显著连锁区域的α-突触核蛋白基因（SNCA），在听音乐和演奏音乐时会过度表达。GATA结合蛋白2基因（GATA2）位于音乐天赋最佳关联区域，并在多巴胺能神经元中调节SNCA，从而将基于DNA和RNA的音乐相关性状研究联系在一起。除了SNCA，其他几个基因也与多巴胺代谢有关。SNCA的突变易导致路易体痴呆，并在人类中引发帕金森病，还会影响鸣禽的鸣叫。在转录组分析中发现了其他几个鸟鸣基因，这表明人类和鸣禽在声音感知和产生方面有共同的进化背景。具有音乐天赋的正选择区域包含影响听觉感知、认知表现、记忆、人类语言发展以及鸣禽鸣叫感知和产生的基因。这些数据支持多巴胺能通路的作用及其与奖励机制的联系，作为音乐正选择中的分子决定因素。整合来自多个物种文献的基因水平数据，将活动依赖的即时早期基因优先作为音乐天赋以及听音乐和演奏音乐的候选基因。
