New research published in JNeurosci reports features of the brain in musicians with absolute, or perfect, pitch (AP) that likely enable individuals with this rare ability—shared by Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven—to precisely identify musical notes.

Keith Schneider and colleagues compared auditory cortex structure and activity of three groups of 20 participants, including AP musicians, non-AP musicians of similar musical expertise, and a control group of individuals with minimal musical training. The AP musicians had a significantly larger auditory cortex capable of representing distinct tones without a reference note.

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