Tune deafness, or congenital amusia, is a lifelong deficient in music perception that cannot be explained by hearing loss, brain damage, intellectual deficiencies, or lack of exposure. The disorder affects predominantly the melodic pitch dimension (summary by Peretz ... Tune deafness, or congenital amusia, is a lifelong deficient in music perception that cannot be explained by hearing loss, brain damage, intellectual deficiencies, or lack of exposure. The disorder affects predominantly the melodic pitch dimension (summary by Peretz et al., 2009). See 159300 for an opposite situation, that of musical perfect pitch.
Peretz et al. (2002) reported a middle-aged woman with congenital amusia, an impairment of the ability to discriminate, recognize, and appreciate melody since birth. She had no cognitive deficits, brain lesions, hearing loss, or socioaffective disturbances, and was ... Peretz et al. (2002) reported a middle-aged woman with congenital amusia, an impairment of the ability to discriminate, recognize, and appreciate melody since birth. She had no cognitive deficits, brain lesions, hearing loss, or socioaffective disturbances, and was exposed to music as a child. She did not like to listen to music because it sounded to her like noise and induced stress. Detailed tests showed an inability to discriminate pitch variation, and to a lesser extent temporal variation, while retaining the ability to recognize speech intonation and voices. Other family members were reported to be similarly impaired, although they were not formally tested. Peretz et al. (2002) concluded that fine-grained pitch perception is an essential component around which the musical system develops in a normal brain.