A new study into ‘beat-deafness’ has found that those suffering from the condition might just be unable to synchronise to sounds, rather than just being down right terrible at dancing.

Scientists from McGill University in Canada carried out a test with 34 participants – two of which were beat-deaf – to see how they fared in tasks unrelated and related to sound.

The first was a tapping exercise without any audio – where everyone completed it fairly well – but the second, which involved clapping along to a tempo-changing metronome, troubled the two sufferers.

Professor Caroline Palmer said: “We found that these beat-deaf individuals were able to perceive different rhythms and tap a regular beat in the absence of sound, similarly to control group members.

“Only when they had to move with the beat did we see a deficit, compared with the control group.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald