Musical Aptitude linked to Vasopressin Receptor Gene Variants

In the penultimate chapter of "Not A Chimp" I fashion the beginnings of a biosocial science to human nature founded on genetic variants for a number of neurotransmitters and hormones including dopamine, serotonin and vasopressin. Here a group from Finland look at the same variants of the vasopressin receptor gene avpr1a that had been previously linked to ability for creative dance by Rachel Bachner-Melman. They have shown that aptitude for structuring music, time and pitch are all significantly associated with certain of these variants. Although it's difficult to pin down, they say, the precise selective advantage to humans of musical ability, it is clearly a social exercise, might make you attractive to the opposite sex, and is an important element of group cohesion and collective ritual. We have to be a bit careful of these results because the scores for the various aspects of musical ability were compiled from Internet questionnaires and there is always the possibility of self-reporting bias creeping in. Nevertheless, a nice addition to this burgeoning field.