Amusia: The Science Behind Tone Deafness

Abstract

For most, the ability to distinguish basic pitch, rhythm, and melody of music is something that comes naturally. The brain is attuned to hearing certain sounds and perceiving them as music, allowing for listeners to enjoy what they are listening to as well as imitate what they hear. This seemingly simple, unconscious knowledge of music for individuals is something that about 2.5% of the population lacks (Lehmann et al., 2015). Congenital amusia, often referred to as “tone deafness”, is a disorder present at birth that is characterized by the impairment of musical perception. Although amusic individuals know that the sound they are hearing is supposed to be a song, the concept of music as a whole is lost on them. Those with congenital amusia have an inability to perceive music as a coherent network of melodic elements (Szyfter & Wigowska, 2021). Instead, they recognize it only as disorganized noise in the environment, and can have deficits in perception of tune, melody, and rhythm – all factors that make up music.