"Early Age Musical Genius Signs" how does that happen?

I saw an article on the Web talking about Early Age Musical Genius Signs and this two topics below really teach someone about, how precisely that happen.

Perfect pitch

In the meantime, the most convincing evidence of musical genes comes from the finding that at least one critical musical talent is inheritable: perfect pitch. That's the ability to identify the pitch of tones in the absence of a reference pitch.

Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco found in one study in the late 1990s that people with perfect pitch were four times more likely than those without the ability to be related to someone else with perfect pitch. The researchers also have concluded that both early musical training and genetic predisposition go into the development of perfect pitch.

That finding makes sense to psychologist David T. Lykken of the University of Minnesota, author of Genius and the Mind: Studies of Creativity and Temperament in the Historical Record. He points out that focused effort is a hallmark of work produced by people we think of as geniuses.

"There are psychologists who think genius is extraordinary application, and if there is anything genetic about it, it is motivational," he says. "But I think there's more to it than that; it is a mixture, a group nation of attributes, some of them specific to the subject."

Specialized brain modules

Lykken describes the brain as containing specialized "modules" that control areas such as language and music.

"I think that, assuredly, people like Beethoven and other musical geniuses have some of these modules that make them able to do the kind of wonderful things that are required to create this sort of material," he says. "All cases of genius involve not just one or two specific talents, but a combination. To be a Beethoven or a Mozart, you can't just have a module that enables you to play the piano backwards. You must, in addition, have other genetically determined characteristics, including a wonderful ability to focus your attention."

The idea of modular intelligence contradicts the assumption that every brain can be assessed with a single I.Q., or intelligence quotient. I.Q. tests compare a person's general ability to solve problems and understand concepts with that of the general population. The scoring uses a standardized scale with a median of 100. A score between 90 and 110 indicates average intelligence. A score above 130 indicates high intelligence, and a score below 75 may indicate retardation

The notion of modular intelligence could help explain the extraordinary abilities of so-called savants in fields such as mathematics or music. Take the well-known example of "Blind Tom," a slave child born with neurological defects in the 1850s. Tom was unable to speak until he was five or six years old, but from the age of four he could play the piano beautifully.

He was tested at age 11 by musicologists, according to psychologist Oliver Sacks' account in An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. Someone played for the child two new compositions, 13 and 20 pages in length. The little boy reproduced them perfectly, and like Mozart, he could play the piano with his back to the keyboard.

Lykken calls the quest to identify the genetics of musical genius "fascinating." But, he adds, "There are many traits that define genius. I think it will be a long time before anyone maps the way it all works."

From DNA Sciences, Inc.