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Newborn infants detect the beat in music

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: To shed light on how humans can learn to understand music, we need to discover what the perceptual capabilities with which infants are born. Beat induction, the detection of a regular pulse in an auditory signal, is considered a fundamental human trait that, arguably, played a decisive role in the origin of music. Theorists are divided on the issue whether this ability is innate or learned. We show that newborn infants develop expectation for the onset of rhythmic cycles (the downbeat), even when it is not marked by stress or other distinguishing spectral features. Omitting the downbeat elicits brain activity associated with violating sensory expectations. Thus, our results strongly support the view that beat perception is innate.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0809035106

Authors: István Winkler, Gábor P. Háden, Olivia Ladinig, István Sziller, Henkjan Honing

Institutions: University of Szeged, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, University of Amsterdam, Semmelweis University

Language: English

Topic: Neuroscience and Music Perception

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: European Commission, Semmelweis Egyetem

OpenAlex ID: W2094085725

FWCI: 10.76

Cites: 22

Cited by: 652

Related to: 9