SGER: Williams Syndrome and Music Cognition

一群患有威廉姆斯综合症的智障人士可能会为研究大脑以独特方式处理音乐信息的复杂步骤提供线索。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都很弱，比如在算术和解决简单问题方面，但许多患有这种综合症的人却有很强的语言技能和不可思议的音乐能力。然而，到目前为止，大多数对他们音乐能力的观察都来自老师和家长的报告。因此，这项研究的目标之一就是记录和测量这些能力，以帮助研究人员了解大脑是如何处理音乐信息的，比如识别音高，学习旋律和歌词，保持节奏，并将这些信息保留数年。患有威廉姆斯综合症的人组成了一个独特的群体，每个人都缺少一段相同的染色体，并且有许多共同的行为特征。在这些共同的特征中，似乎包括他们听音乐和处理音乐信息的方式。关于威廉姆斯综合症患者天生的音乐能力，越来越多的轶事证据正变得相当令人信服：(1)虽然人们认为威廉姆斯家的孩子注意力持续时间短，但他们在听音乐和参与音乐活动时的注意力持续时间却出奇地长。虽然大多数人看不懂乐谱，但许多人有绝对音高和相对音高。(3)一个数字有不可思议的节奏，能够在短时间内学习复杂的鼓拍，如7/4。(4)许多人能够记住复杂的音乐（有些是多种语言的），包括许多长篇歌谣的歌词和旋律，并能记住数年。那些用外语学习和唱歌的人有着近乎完美的口音。经验丰富的威廉姆斯音乐家擅长演奏和声。一个歌手能很熟练地即兴创作和作曲。(8)几乎所有人都不会怯场，而怯场经常困扰着受过专业训练的音乐家。最近，在拥有完美音高的专业音乐家中，大脑的颞平面被证明是扩大的，在随机的威廉姆斯人群中也被证明是扩大的。因此，这个项目的另一个目标是确定大脑的那个部分与音乐信息的处理之间是否存在联系。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相混淆，对他们的音乐研究可能会为理解一般人群的音乐认知之谜提供线索。＊＊＊

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. ***