Is music in our DNA? | Laura Wesseldijk | TEDxBerlinSalon

Why certain people are more musically gifted than others is not only influenced by environmental conditions, but also partly by our genetics, as shown by both twin studies and molecular DNA research. Overall, it’s both nature and nurture, and they are intertwined. We therefore have to consider genetics to understand how our environment shapes musical abilities and be cautious about making predictions based on our DNA as exemplified by analyzing Beethoven’s DNA.
Laura Wesseldijk earned her PhD in 2018 from the Biological Psychology Department at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, focusing on risk factors for psychiatric problems in children. As a behavioral geneticist, she pursued postdoctoral research at the Karolinska Institute, studying gene-environment interactions in musicality and the link between music and mental health. Currently, Laura is a Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@royykahangwe]

Fascinating take! I think Music is life!

[@siennaprice1351]

I’m completely blind, on the autism spectrum and have complex PTSD. I LOVE communicating through music. Especially improvisational music. I play a wide variety of instruments, as well as sing. Music is life. And fun fact, people who are completely blind and autistic have such a gift and talent for music. Especially when it comes to perfect pitch.

[@Zoeroae_mid]

I am glad

[@honor9lite1337]

How do you type?

[@siennaprice1351]

@@honor9lite1337 I use an accessible feature on my Iphone called Voiceover. It basically reads everything out loud to me on the screen. Whatever I touch, it reads it out kloud to me.

[@Monk_mind]

Music is life...❤

[@erwinvarga]

Laura Wesseldijk

[@hiepkhach789]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤GOODJOB

[@Digiphex]

I have noticed that tone deaf people usually can’t draw as well. There is an aesthetic deficit in all areas sometimes. But somehow they enjoy music anyway.

[@honor9lite1337]

That's me, but on the flip side I've been self learning to my first coding in just several hours, without having the books and internet for tutorial.
I've read general relativity paper at junior school and could have imagined what Einstein has experienced .
But I'm definitely enjoy music, and the genre is called "Chiptune".

[@GulshanKumarBusinessCoach]

Music life 🎉🎉❤❤

[@Urian94]

This ties into my Synesthesia connection to music.

[@Aluran]

Vibration

[@LightWarriors4Life]

Everyone has music 🎼 in their soul.
Some can play, some can write, some can even understand it.
Have known some great guitarists, but they couldn’t carry a note vocally and vice versus. 🧐

[@sweetnbitr33]

Everything is 🎶 I am a symphony ❤

[@Roger7137]

Thx too

[@ascensionvaldes1412]

❤❤very interesting

[@karimemaria]

DNA

[@calblue8694]

🎉

[@Semper_Iratus]

Only if it has a sick beat.

[@brooooooommm]

😍😍😍

[@carrut]

She sounds like a robot, is some parts of her speech I had to check the video to see if she was really talking.

[@MARITAMCHANNEL]

😂😂😂 you right

[@deborahmcginnis8307]

nope, good folks, her original language is from a Germanic tongue.