2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Influence of Music on Steroid Hormones and the Relationship between Receptor Polymorphism and Music Ability: a Pilot Study

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23500258
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Sensitivity informatics/Soft computing
Research Institution	Nara University of Education
Principal Investigator	FUKUI Hajime 奈良教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (10199185)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	music / testosterone / androgen receptor / polymorphism / creativity / steroid hormone / 音楽創造性 / AMMA
Research Abstract	Studies have shown that music confers plasticity to the brain. In a preliminary pilot study, we examined the effect of music listening on steroid hormones and the relationship between steroid hormone receptor polymorphisms and musical ability. Twenty-one subjects (10 males and 11 females) were recruited and divided into musically talented and control groups. The AMMA scores were higher for the short repeat length-type AR than for the long repeat length-type.Comparisons of AR polymorphisms and T levels before the experiments showed that the T levels were within the low range in the short repeat length-type group and there was a positive relationship with the repeat length, although it was not significant. The AMMA scores were higher for the short repeat length-type AVPR1A (RS1) than for the long repeat length-type, although the differences were not significant.This is the first study of humans to analyze relationships between the AR gene, T levels, and musical ability.