Born to dance but beat deaf: A new form of congenital amusia

▸ Almost everyone, but beat deaf individuals, can feel the beat in music and move in time to it. ▸ Novel motion capture and psychophysical techniques can measure dance. ▸ Musical time has a distinct neurobiological origin from pitch. ▸ Beat deafness presents a new form of congenital amusia related to time and not to pitch. ▸ Beat deafness may unlock a key principle specific to the human genotype. ▸ Strict periodicity might be unique to music.