it was concluded that Monica's deficit seemed limited to music. A later study showed that not only do amusics experience difficulty in discriminating variations in pitch, but they also exhibit deficits in perceiving patterns in pitch. This finding led to another test that was designed to assess the presence of a deficiency in pitch perception. In this test, Monica heard a sequence of five piano tones of constant pitch followed by a comparison sequence of five piano tones in which the fourth tone could be the same pitch as the other notes in the sequence or a completely different pitch altogether. Monica was asked to respond "yes" if she detected a pitch change on the fourth tone or respond "no" if she could not detect a pitch change. Results showed that Monica could barely detect a pitch change as large as two semitones (whole tone), or half steps. While this pitch-processing deficit is extremely severe, it does not seem to include speech intonation. This is because pitch variations in speech are very coarse compared with those used in music. In conclusion, Monica's learning disability arose from a basic problem in pitch discrimination, which is viewed as the origin of congenital amusia. Research Over the past decade, much has been discovered about amusia. However, there remains a great deal more to learn. While a method of treatment for people with amusia has not been defined, tone differentiation techniques have been used on amusic patients with some success. It was found with this research that children reacted positively to these tone differentiation techniques, while adults found the training annoying. However, further research in this direction would aid in determining if this would be a viable treatment option for people with amusia. Additional research can also serve to indicate which processing component in the brain is essential for normal music development. Also, it would be extremely beneficial to investigate musical learning in relation to amusia since this could provide valuable insights into other forms of learning disabilities such as dysphasia and dyslexia. Notable cases In fiction Horatio Hornblower Grace from Home on the Range James Fraser from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Rodrigo De Souza from Mozart in the Jungle See also Absolute pitch, the human ability to name a musical note when played or sung (less common than relative pitch) Auditory agnosia Cognitive neuroscience of music Color blindness Musical aptitude Music-specific disorders Relative