This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

by Daniel J. Levitin

Ursula told Crick of Albert Galaburda’s discovery, at Harvard, that individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) have defects in the way their cerebellums form. Williams occurs when about twenty genes turn up missing on one chromosome (chromosome 7). This happens in one out of twenty thousand births, and so it is about one fourth as common as the better-known developmental disorder Down syndrome. Like Down syndrome, Williams results from a mistake in genetic transcription that occurs early in the stages of fetal development. Out of the twenty-five thousand or so genes that we have, the loss of these twenty is devastating. People with Williams can end up with profound intellectual impairment. Few of them learn to count, tell time, or read. Yet, they have more or less intact language skills, they are very musical, and they are unusually outgoing and pleasant; if anything, they are more emotional than the rest of us, and they are certainly more friendly and gregarious than the average person. Making music and meeting new people tend to be two of their favorite things to do. Schmahmann had found that lesions to the cerebellum can create Williams-like symptoms, with people suddenly becoming too outgoing, and acting overly familiar with strangers.