Sometimes, practice doesn't make perfect.
A new study comparing twins' musical talent found that no matter how hard one twin practiced their craft, the other twin was at an equal level of skill.
"The idea that an externally imposed practice regime can and will lead to expertise seems to be wrong," said study researcher Miriam Mosey, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, according to Live Science. "But innate ability should also not be seen in a deterministic way, as, naturally, practice will (almost) always lead to an increase in ability (but not necessarily to high-level expertise)."
Mosey hypothesized - like most people - that the more someone practices, the higher level they will reach.
However when Mosey compared the musical ability of 1,211 pairs of adult identical twins, who share almost 100 percent of their genes, and 1,358 pairs of fraternal twins, who share an average of 50 percent of their genes, both twins remained at the same skill level.
Musical ability was measured by looking at how well people could detect differences in pitch, distinguish different melodies and recognize different rhythms.
She even found that in one case, as Live Journal reported, a twin practiced 20,228 hours more than his twin, while maintaining the same musical ability as the other.
"Music [and] practice," Miriam A. Mosing, who also participated in conducting the survey, tells Scientific American of their findings, "may not causally influence musical ability and ... genetic variation among individuals affects both ability and inclination to practice."
