Have you ever imagined taking a pill and being able to identify all the musical notes?

Have you ever heard of absolute ear? This is a musical term for the ability to recognize any musical note that usually develops in the critical period of our lives, up to the age of seven. Such a gift is so incredible that it is even rare: only one in 10, 000 people has the absolute ear, and among them are personalities like Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and Mariah Carey.

But if you, like me, have no idea of ​​the difference between a flat B and a Fa, don't worry: science may have the solution. Researchers have found that a simple drug can cause adults to develop this ability even without having ever studied music theory.

Childhood skills

Previous studies have shown that valproic acid - a drug used to treat epilepsy - has enabled adult rats to develop habits that do not usually occur after childhood.

From then on, Takao Hensch, who is a Harvard University researcher, and his team decided to test the substance in an adult group without any musical knowledge. The volunteers were divided into two groups - one taking valproic acid and one taking a placebo - and both did a series of online music exercises for two weeks.

At the end of this period, scientists noted that the recognition of musical notes was more pronounced in the group that took the drug, showing that the drug is able to reestablish the brain plasticity that is naturally lost after childhood.

Can we relearn?

In an interview with NPR, Dr. Hensch points out that the benefits of substance can go beyond music and represent a breakthrough in learning: “There are many examples of critical period developmental types, and language is the most obvious . So the idea here was: can we figure out a way to reopen the brain's plasticity and, with appropriate training, allow adults to become young again? ”Asks the researcher.

Although it seems that a single pill can help develop all the skills that have been forgotten since childhood, the scientist points out that the next steps of research need to be cautious.

“If we form our identities through development, through a critical period, and match our brains with the environment in which we are created, acquiring language, culture, identity, then if we erase that by reopening the critical period, we also take a risk, ” explains Hensch.

Despite the risks that the researcher comments, would you consider taking a few doses of the drug to learn to identify musical notes or perhaps speak other languages ​​more easily?