Experts in domains such as music or sports often start training early. It has been suggested that this may reflect a sensitive period in childhood for skill acquisition. However, it could be that familial factors (e.g., genetics) contribute to the association. Here, we examined the effect of age of onset of musical training on musical aptitude and achievement in professional musicians (n = 310) and twins (n = 7,786). In line with previous literature, results showed that an earlier age of onset was associated with higher aptitude and achievement in both samples. After we adjusted for lifetime practice hours, age of onset was associated only with aptitude (p < .001; achievement: p > .14). Twin analyses showed that the association with aptitude was fully explained by familial factors. Thus, these findings provide little support for a sensitive period for music but highlight that familiar factors play an important role for associations between age of onset of training and skills in adulthood.

中文翻译：

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为什么早期开始训练与成年后的音乐技能有关？一项遗传信息研究


音乐或体育等领域的专家通常很早就开始训练。有人认为，这可能反映了童年时期技能获取的敏感时期。然而，家族因素（例如遗传）可能会导致这种关联。在这里，我们研究了专业音乐家 (n = 310) 和双胞胎 (n = 7,786) 开始接受音乐训练的年龄对音乐能力和成就的影响。与之前的文献一致，结果表明，两个样本中发病年龄越早与更高的能力和成就相关。在我们调整终生练习时间后，发病年龄仅与能力相关（p < .001；成就：p > .14）。双胞胎分析表明，与能力的相关性完全可以通过家庭因素来解释。因此，这些发现几乎没有为音乐敏感期提供支持，但强调熟悉的因素在开始训练年龄和成年技能之间的关联中发挥着重要作用。