Talk about letting the beat drop....

[AFK]

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/11/6247114-cant-feel-the-rhythm-you-may-be-beat-deaf

Mathieu takes dorky dancing to a whole new level. Not only does the Canadian college student not get into the groove, he can't even clap in time to the music. That's because he's beat-deaf.

Beat-deafness is when your arms legs, and body can't move in sync to music -- and you can't tell if another dancer isn't in the groove, either. (And it's different from the brain chemical we wrote about earlier this month that messes with your moves.) Plus, you have a hard time recognizing the "strong beat" in music. While many people feel like they have "two left feet" or "no rhythm," in Mathieu's case, some of his concerns are valid. He's not only a mess on the dance floor, he also has trouble clapping in time -- or tapping his fingers or foot -- to the beat of a song.

Scientists recently wrote up Mathieu's musical misfortunes in a paper considered the first documented case of beat-deafness. (Researchers identified him only by his first name.) It also may be the first documentation to show that the majority of the population really is capable of synchronizing their body in time to music.

The researchers believe that beat-deafness is a newly-discovered form of congentical amusia -- the most well-known form of this condition is tone-deafness. Beat-deafness is rarer than tone-deafness, and is likely associated with anomalies in brain connectivity between the auditory cortex and inferior frontal cortex. Both beat- and tone-deafness likely have a genetic origin, explains Jessica Phillips-Silver, a postdoctoral researcher with the International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research at the University of Montreal and the study's lead author. "Even babies can feel the beat of music," she says, so considering how uncommon a disorder it is, she was surprised to find a real case of beat deafness and confirm it in the lab.

This research, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Neuropsychologia, recruited volunteers who felt they can't keep a musical beat. Most participants had some musical training, including Mathieu, who had music, voice and even dance lessons. He also has no intellectual or hearing problems.

In one experiment, the researchers looked at how well 34 adults, including Mathieu, could bounce up and down to a Merengue beat, and they compared these results to keeping tempo with a metronome, a ticking device that marks musical time. Although Mathieu and his fellow participants did well bouncing to the metronome, he was totally out of sync -- and bounced too slowly -- to Merengue.

In another test, Mathieu was asked to follow the beat when dancing with a partner, which he could do. But when told to dance alone -- without a partner's moves to mimic -- he had no rhythm.

So, maybe he wasn't digging the tunes? Researchers then had Mathieu and 10 others dance to the beat of eight different kinds of music, everything from rock and swing to techno and world. Mathieu's timing was off with five of eight musical genres. (Ironically, he moved reasonably well to the song "I Like to Move It.")

Mathieu doesn't completely lack musical talent. He can sing in tune and has a lovely voice, according to Phillips-Silver.

It's worth noting that there are some subtle differences between being beat-deaf and just being a rhythm klutz, Phillips-Silver explains. On the one hand, consistently failing to clap in time at a concert might actually be a diagnostic criterion for beat-deafness. "This is something that our case, Mathieu, describes having always been the case at concerts -- he actually had to watch other people, to imitate them," Phillips-Silver says. "But alas, being on the beat requires the kind of anticipation of the beat that comes from perceiving it in the music and knowing when to expect the next one. So he never was able to keep up."

But those women in your Zumba class who insist on stepping right when everyone else is lunging left probably don't have a genetic excuse."Those gals on the aerobics floor who miss the kick could be just struggling with the coordination required to perform the routine and do so in time with the music," Phillips-Silver says. "This is a more complicated task than simply standing in place and bending the knees to the beat. I would pull each one of those ladies aside and do a quick check: If we remove the aerobics steps, do they lose the klutz? If so, I'd say they are not beat-deaf. (Though we might question whether they'd get a better workout if they could stay in sync with the group!)"

While there's no remedy yet for Mathieu's beat-deafness, researchers now have a better idea of what it looks like. Phillips-Silver hopes future study will help scientists to understand how music is processed in the brain, and how people synchronize to music and to each other, when dancing.

At first this would seem relatively harmless, but I would have to wonder if this affects his life in non-musical ways.  There are sports, for example, where having some kind of sense of rhythm is kind of important. 

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/11/6247114-cant-feel-the-rhythm-you-may-be-beat-deaf

Mathieu takes dorky dancing to a whole new level. Not only does the Canadian college student not get into the groove, he can't even clap in time to the music. That's because he's beat-deaf.

Beat-deafness is when your arms legs, and body can't move in sync to music -- and you can't tell if another dancer isn't in the groove, either. (And it's different from the brain chemical we wrote about earlier this month that messes with your moves.) Plus, you have a hard time recognizing the "strong beat" in music. While many people feel like they have "two left feet" or "no rhythm," in Mathieu's case, some of his concerns are valid. He's not only a mess on the dance floor, he also has trouble clapping in time -- or tapping his fingers or foot -- to the beat of a song.

Scientists recently wrote up Mathieu's musical misfortunes in a paper considered the first documented case of beat-deafness. (Researchers identified him only by his first name.) It also may be the first documentation to show that the majority of the population really is capable of synchronizing their body in time to music.

The researchers believe that beat-deafness is a newly-discovered form of congentical amusia -- the most well-known form of this condition is tone-deafness. Beat-deafness is rarer than tone-deafness, and is likely associated with anomalies in brain connectivity between the auditory cortex and inferior frontal cortex. Both beat- and tone-deafness likely have a genetic origin, explains Jessica Phillips-Silver, a postdoctoral researcher with the International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research at the University of Montreal and the study's lead author. "Even babies can feel the beat of music," she says, so considering how uncommon a disorder it is, she was surprised to find a real case of beat deafness and confirm it in the lab.

This research, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Neuropsychologia, recruited volunteers who felt they can't keep a musical beat. Most participants had some musical training, including Mathieu, who had music, voice and even dance lessons. He also has no intellectual or hearing problems.

In one experiment, the researchers looked at how well 34 adults, including Mathieu, could bounce up and down to a Merengue beat, and they compared these results to keeping tempo with a metronome, a ticking device that marks musical time. Although Mathieu and his fellow participants did well bouncing to the metronome, he was totally out of sync -- and bounced too slowly -- to Merengue.

In another test, Mathieu was asked to follow the beat when dancing with a partner, which he could do. But when told to dance alone -- without a partner's moves to mimic -- he had no rhythm.

So, maybe he wasn't digging the tunes? Researchers then had Mathieu and 10 others dance to the beat of eight different kinds of music, everything from rock and swing to techno and world. Mathieu's timing was off with five of eight musical genres. (Ironically, he moved reasonably well to the song "I Like to Move It.")

Mathieu doesn't completely lack musical talent. He can sing in tune and has a lovely voice, according to Phillips-Silver.

It's worth noting that there are some subtle differences between being beat-deaf and just being a rhythm klutz, Phillips-Silver explains. On the one hand, consistently failing to clap in time at a concert might actually be a diagnostic criterion for beat-deafness. "This is something that our case, Mathieu, describes having always been the case at concerts -- he actually had to watch other people, to imitate them," Phillips-Silver says. "But alas, being on the beat requires the kind of anticipation of the beat that comes from perceiving it in the music and knowing when to expect the next one. So he never was able to keep up."

But those women in your Zumba class who insist on stepping right when everyone else is lunging left probably don't have a genetic excuse."Those gals on the aerobics floor who miss the kick could be just struggling with the coordination required to perform the routine and do so in time with the music," Phillips-Silver says. "This is a more complicated task than simply standing in place and bending the knees to the beat. I would pull each one of those ladies aside and do a quick check: If we remove the aerobics steps, do they lose the klutz? If so, I'd say they are not beat-deaf. (Though we might question whether they'd get a better workout if they could stay in sync with the group!)"

While there's no remedy yet for Mathieu's beat-deafness, researchers now have a better idea of what it looks like. Phillips-Silver hopes future study will help scientists to understand how music is processed in the brain, and how people synchronize to music and to each other, when dancing.

At first this would seem relatively harmless, but I would have to wonder if this affects his life in non-musical ways.  There are sports, for example, where having some kind of sense of rhythm is kind of important. 

Isn't "beat deafness" normal for Canadians? 

[AFK]

Heh, I should go into fortune telling. 

[Jasper]

I was hoping to see some video.  I've never seen anyone have as bad a sense of timing as this describes.

[Jenne]

I think my husband has a form of this.  Dude seriously can't find rhythm in music to save his life.

[LMNO]

I heard about this, but I always thought it was called "Guitarist".

[Luna]

I heard about this, but I always thought it was called "Guitarist".

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I heard about this, but I always thought it was called "Guitarist".

[East Coast Hustle]

I heard about this, but I always thought it was called "Guitarist".

[President Television]

I heard about this, but I always thought it was called "Guitarist".

"Rhythm guitarist"? An oxymoron if I ever heard one.

[Don Coyote]

What is this rhythm you talk about? All I hear is a bunch of noises.