The development of rhythmicity is foundational to communicative and social behaviours in humans and many other species, and mechanisms of synchrony could be conserved across species. The goal of the current paper is to explore evolutionary hypotheses linking vocal learning and beat synchronization through genomic approaches, testing the prediction that genetic underpinnings of birdsong also contribute to the aetiology of human interactions with musical beat structure. We combined state-of-the-art-genomic datasets that account for underlying polygenicity of these traits: birdsong genome-wide transcriptomics linked to singing in zebra finches, and a human genome-wide association study of beat synchronization. Results of competitive gene set analysis revealed that the genetic architecture of human beat synchronization is significantly enriched for birdsong genes expressed in songbird Area X (a key nucleus for vocal learning, and homologous to human basal ganglia). These findings complement ethological and neural evidence of the relationship between vocal learning and beat synchronization, supporting a framework of some degree of common genomic substrates underlying rhythm-related behaviours in two clades, humans and songbirds (the largest evolutionary radiation of vocal learners). Future cross-species approaches investigating the genetic underpinnings of beat synchronization in a broad evolutionary context are discussed.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology’.

节律性的发展是人类和许多其他物种的交流和社会行为的基础，同步机制可以在物种间得到保护。本论文的目标是探索通过基因组方法将声音学习和节拍同步联系起来的进化假设，测试鸟鸣的遗传基础也有助于人类与音乐节拍结构相互作用的病因学的预测。我们结合了最先进的基因组数据集，这些数据集解释了这些性状的潜在多基因性：与斑胸草雀唱歌相关的鸟鸣全基因组转录组学，以及节拍同步的人类全基因组关联研究。竞争基因集分析结果表明，人类节拍同步的遗传结构显着丰富了鸣禽区域 X（声音学习的关键核，与人类基底神经节同源）中表达的鸟鸣基因。这些发现补充了声乐学习和节拍同步之间关系的行为学和神经学证据，支持了人类和鸣禽两个进化枝（最大的声乐学习者进化辐射）中节奏相关行为的某种程度的常见基因组底物的框架。讨论了在广泛的进化背景下研究节拍同步的遗传基础的未来跨物种方法。这些发现补充了声乐学习和节拍同步之间关系的行为学和神经学证据，支持了人类和鸣禽两个进化枝（最大的声乐学习者进化辐射）中节奏相关行为的某种程度的常见基因组底物的框架。讨论了在广泛的进化背景下研究节拍同步的遗传基础的未来跨物种方法。这些发现补充了声乐学习和节拍同步之间关系的行为学和神经学证据，支持了人类和鸣禽两个进化枝（最大的声乐学习者进化辐射）中节奏相关行为的某种程度的常见基因组底物的框架。讨论了在广泛的进化背景下研究节拍同步的遗传基础的未来跨物种方法。

这篇文章是主题问题“同步和节奏交互：从大脑到行为生态学”的一部分。