A Pill for Perfect Pitch

By Brian Parker

Perfect pitch is defined as the ability to identify musical notes without the assistance of a reference pitch. Based on developmental psychology, it is believed that perfect pitch is amongst the skills acquired during critical periods, or points in a person’s early developmental stages when he or she is highly sensitive to external factors. Language is a specific skill also thought to be developed at this time.

Harvard university professor Takao Hensch, who heads the Hensch Lab in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Center for Brain Science has recently discovered remarkable evidence through research of a pill that may help non-musicians acquire perfect pitch. Valproic acid, a mood-stabilizing drug, was found to open the plasticity of the adult brain and return it to a juvenile state. At the end of a two-week test of adult males who otherwise had no musical experience, the pill, also known as Valproate, was responsible for helping the subjects acquire perfect pitch.

Despite the fact that the drug could effectively help adults learn new languages far past childhood, the critical period is still evolutionarily relevant, and there are health implications of reopening that brain plasticity in adults. Opening up this stage in the brain could potentially mean erasing things like identity, culture, and language from the mind if administered carelessly. While the research is still in progress, it may show promise for sharpening the learning curve in healthy adults, with even greater efficacy for those with learning disabilities.

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