Researchers study a rare condition known as “beat-deafness.”

A new study from researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal have identified beat-deafness in some subjects. Sufferers are unable to keep a beat and synchronising movement to sound is difficult.

“It’s a problem in which people have a tough time either tapping or clapping or moving their head to some regular pattern,” said McGill’s Professor Caroline Palmer. “Beat-deaf individuals have an especially hard time adapting to changes in sound.”

While the beat-deaf can perceive different rhythms and tap out a beat, the addition of sounds — even just a metronome — made staying with the beat difficult.

“The types of mistakes that beat-deaf individuals made indicated deficits in biological rhythms, including the natural frequencies or rates at which the internal oscillations pulsed, and how long it took them to respond to the new metronome tempo,” said Palmer.

However, simply not being able to dance doesn’t mean you’re beat-deaf: because it’s such a new discovery, there isn’t much research on the condition; in fact, only one other person has been studied with it. [via Sydney Morning Herald]

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