SGER: Williams Syndrome and Music Cognition

小行星9617078 一群患有这种疾病的智障人士 威廉姆斯综合征可能提供线索的复杂步骤， 大脑以独特的方式处理音乐信息 虽然患有威廉姆斯综合症的人和大多数智障人士一样，在大多数认知过程中表现得很弱，比如算术和解决简单问题，但许多患有这种综合症的人的语言能力和不可思议的音乐能力都很强。 然而，到目前为止，大多数关于他们音乐能力的观察来自老师和家长的报告。 因此，这项研究的目标之一是记录和测量这些能力，以帮助研究人员了解大脑如何处理音乐信息，例如识别音高，学习旋律和歌词，保持节奏，并将这些信息保留多年。 患有威廉姆斯综合征的人构成了一个独特的群体，每个人都缺少一段相同的染色体，并共享许多行为特征。 在这些共同的特征中，似乎有他们听到和处理音乐信息的方式。 越来越多的关于威廉姆斯综合征患者先天音乐能力的轶事证据变得非常引人注目： (1)虽然威廉姆斯的孩子被认为注意力持续时间短，但他们听音乐和参与音乐活动的注意力持续时间却长得惊人。 (2)虽然大多数人不能阅读乐谱，但许多人有绝对和相对音高。 (3)一些人有不可思议的节奏，能够在短时间内学习复杂的鼓点，如7/4。 (4)许多人能够保留复杂的音乐（一些在各种语言），包括许多诗句的话长 民谣和旋律，多年来。 (5)的人 学习和演唱外语的人都有近乎完美的口音。 (6)经验丰富的威廉姆斯音乐家具有和谐的能力。 (7)一个数字可以即兴创作和谱写歌词与伟大的设施。 (8)几乎所有人都没有怯场， 受过专业训练的音乐家。 最近，大脑的一部分，颞平面， 显示在专业音乐家中被放大， 间距，也被证明是扩大在一个随机人口的 威廉姆斯的人。 因此，该项目的另一个目标是 确定大脑的这一部分和 音乐信息的处理。 大脑处理音乐信息的机制是生命中最大的谜团之一。 威廉姆斯人的音乐能力通常不会与任何一般认知能力混淆，对他们的音乐研究可能会为理解普通人群中音乐认知的奥秘提供线索。 ***

9617078 LENHOFF A group of mentally disabled people having the condition called Williams syndrome may offer clues to the complex steps by which the brain processes musical information in a distinctive manner. Although people born with Williams syndrome are like the majority of mentally disabled people in being weak in most cognitive processes, such as in arithmetic and in solving simple problems, many with the syndrome have enhanced language skills and uncanny musical abilities. To date, however, most of the observations of their musical abilities come from reports of teachers and parents. Hence, one of the goals of this research is to document and measure those abilities in order to help researchers get at an understanding of how the brain is able to handle music information, such as recognizing pitch, learning melodies and lyrics, keeping rhythm, and retaining such information for periods of years. People with Williams syndrome constitute a unique population, each lacking a piece of the same chromosome and sharing many behavioral traits. Among those shared traits appear to be the way they hear and process musical information. Mounting anecdotal evidence regarding the innate musical abilities of those with Williams syndrome is becoming quite compelling: (1) While Williams children are thought to have short attention spans, their attention span for listening to and participating in musical activities appears to be surprisingly long. (2) Although most can not read musical notation, many have absolute and relative pitch. (3) A number have uncanny rhythm, being able to learn complex drum beats, such as 7/4, in a short session. (4) Many are able to retain complex music (some in a variety of languages), including both the words of many verses of long ballads and the melodies, for periods of years. (5) Those who learn and sing in foreign languages have near-perfect accents. (6) Experienced Williams musicians have a facility with harmony. (7) A n umber can improvise and compose lyrics with great facility. (8) Virtually all lack stage fright, which often plagues professionally trained musicians. More recently, the part of the brain, the planum temporale, shown to be enlarged in professional musicians with perfect pitch, was also shown to be enlarged in a random population of Williams people. Another goal of this project, thus, is to determine if there is a link between that part of the brain and the processing of musical information. The mechanism by which the brain processes musical information is one of life's great mysteries. Studies of music in Williams people, in whom musical abilities are not generally confounded with any general cognitive capabilities, may offer clues to understanding those mysteries of musical cognition in the general population. ***