Untitled

Abstract

Reports of a relatively high prevalence of absolute pitch (AP) in autistic disorder suggest that AP is associated with some of the distinctive cognitive and social characteristics seen in autism spectrum disorders. Accordingly we examined cognition, personality, social behavior, and language in 13 musicians with strictly defined AP (APS) and 33 musician controls (MC) without AP using standardized interviews and tests previously applied to identify the broad autism phenotype seen in the relatives of autistic probands. These included the Pragmatic Rating Scale (PRS) (social aspects of language) the Personality Assessment Schedule (PAS) (rigidity, aloofness, anxiety/worry, hypersensitivity), and WAIS performance subtests (PIQ). On the basis of their behavior in the interviews, subjects were classified as socially eccentric, somewhat eccentric, or not eccentric. Forty-six percent of the APS, but only 15% of the MC, were classified as socially eccentric (p < .03). APS but not MC showed higher scores on block design than on the other PIQ tests (p < .06), a PIQ pattern seen in autism spectrum disorders. Although APS and MC did not differ significantly on other measures it is of note that APS mean scores on the PRS and PAS (5.69, 4.92) were almost twice as high as those for the MC (3.03, 2.45). Thus, musicians with AP show some of the personality, language, and cognitive features associated with autism. Piecemeal information processing, of which AP is an extreme and rare example, is characteristic of autism and may be associated as well with subclinical variants in language and behavior. We speculate that the gene or genes that underlie AP may be among the genes that contribute to autism.

Do Musicians with Perfect Pitch Have More Autism Traits than Musicians without Perfect Pitch? An Empirical Study

“…Accordingly, we measured the autism traits of the participants quantitatively by administering the AQ and the level of AP ability using a pitch identification test, on the hypothesis of a correlation between the two. Finding higher scores on the AQ subscales measuring social and communication deficits in our AP group would be consistent with the results of Brown et al [35], whereas differences on the subscales measuring attention-switching and attention to detail would support the model by Chin [27] who claim that AP is associated with detailed processing style. Finally, we examined whether musical abilities vary with degrees of autism traits and whether the level of AP ability is reliably related to musical aptitude.…”

“…Consistent with this conclusion are the results from the current study showing that APs and non-APs did not differ in their attention to detail. Hence, our findings do not indicate piecemeal information processing by musicians with AP as suggested by Brown et al [35], and may also challenge the importance of analytical style as outlined in the model of AP by Chin [27]. In one study of a musical savant with AP, Mottron et al [41] noted features commonly observed in individuals with executive function deficits and suggested that absolute pitch may result from executive function difficulties, most notably a lack of cognitive flexibility, in a person with a marked interest for auditory stimuli.…”

“…This finding is surprising given that the results from Brown et al [35] concluded that AP possessors (APs) are more likely to have impairments in social behavior than non-possessors (non-APs). Furthermore, they speculated that AP is an example of piecemeal information processing, an enhanced attention to isolated details of a configuration at the expense of attention to the whole.…”

“…One limitation in the study of musicians with and without AP by Brown et al [35] was that they did not include a group of non-musicians in their study. Our inclusion of a non-musician group enabled us to draw comparisons between musician and non-musician groups.…”

“…Recently, a preliminary interview-based study carried out by Brown et al [35] examined individual differences associated with the presence of AP in groups of classical trained musicians. The subjects were classified as being definitely socially eccentric, somewhat eccentric, or not eccentric on the basis of interviewer’s notes regarding subjects’ communication style and nonverbal behavior.…”