How many mums-to-be have noted the increased movement of their unborn child in apparent response to music? Well, now psychologist Marcel Zentner, from the Univeristy of York, and his colleague Tuomas Eerola, from the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyvaskyla, in Finland, have detailed their findings of infants responses to music, in the March 15 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This research showed babies respond to the rhythm and tempo of music, and find it more engaging than speech. The findings, based on a study of 120 infants between 5 months and 2 years old, suggest that humans may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music.
"Our research suggests that it is the beat rather than other features of the music, such as the melody, that produces the response in infants," said researcher Marcel Zentner, a psychologist at the University of York in England. "We also found that the better the children were able to synchronize their movements with the music, the more they smiled."
During the experiments the babies were sat on a parents lap. The adults wore headphones so that they could not hear the music, and were asked to sit still so that they could not affect the babies responses.
This research showed babies respond to the rhythm and tempo of music, and find it more engaging than speech. The findings, based on a study of 120 infants between 5 months and 2 years old, suggest that humans may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music.
"Our research suggests that it is the beat rather than other features of the music, such as the melody, that produces the response in infants," said researcher Marcel Zentner, a psychologist at the University of York in England. "We also found that the better the children were able to synchronize their movements with the music, the more they smiled."
During the experiments the babies were sat on a parents lap. The adults wore headphones so that they could not hear the music, and were asked to sit still so that they could not affect the babies responses.
To test the babies', the researchers played recordings of classical music, rhythmic beats and speech to infants, and videotaped the results. They also recruited professional ballet dancers to analyze how well the babies matched their movements to the music.
The researchers found the babies moved their arms, hands, legs, feet, torsos and heads in response to the music, much more than to speech. Though the ability appears to be innate in humans, the researchers aren't sure why it evolved.
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