Newborn Infants Can Detect The Beat In Music
By Morelli
Using brain-signal detection and measurement, scientists have discovered a phenomenon called “beat induction” in two to three day old babies. Unique to humans, either innate or learned in the womb, beat induction is the ability to detect and synchronize rhythms, and is linked to the origin of music itself.
Scientists say that beat induction enables actions like clapping, making music cooperatively and dancing to a rhythm. To conduct the experiment, babies wore an adhesive ear coupler, and listened to rock!
Simple drum beats, consisting of high-hat, bass drum and snare drum sounds, were played for the infants. Then, the rhythm was replayed, while omitting the syncopated, or downbeat, sounds from time to time. Sure enough, the babies’ brains produced an electrical response indicating that they had expected to hear the downbeat but had not.
Chimps and other close evolutionary relatives don’t synchronize their behavior to rhythms; the ability is unique to humans. Furthermore, the study challenges earlier theories that stated beat induction is learned in the first few months of life, for example by parents rocking the infant.
Is rhythm innate to humans, or learned? What do you think?
