Moving precisely to the beat of music was believed to be an innate ability unique to humans, however, a new study indicates that rats also move their heads following the rhythm.
A study by Japanese researchers published by Science Advances demonstrates, for the first time, the innate synchronization of rhythm in animals.
Rats show a perception and synchronization with music similar to that of humans when the musical rhythm reaches 132-120 beats per minute (BPM), which is often used in musical composition.
Spontaneous beat synchronization in rats: Neural dynamics and motor entrainmenthttps://t.co/9A3g5i8bCO
Rats bopping to the beat in video demonstrate innate beat synchronization in animals for the first timehttps://t.co/6MEPflT8Hc
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Sync of rhythm in the rest of the animal kingdom?
The results suggest that rhythm synchronization may be inherent to the neural dynamics that are conserved in all species, rather than being species-specific, a discovery that not only offers a greater understanding of the animal mind, but also the origins of our own music and dance.
Animals also react to hearing noises, they can make rhythmic sounds or be trained to respond to music, but it is not the same as the complex neural and motor processes that work together to allow us to naturally recognize the rhythm of a song, respond to it or even predict it. This is known as rhythm synchronization.
Recent studies have shown that some animals seem to share our impulse to move to the rhythm of the music and new research from the University of Tokyo shows that rats are one of them.
“The rats showed an innate synchronization –without any training or previous exposure to music– of the rhythms, more clearly within the 132-400 bpm, at which humans also show the clearest synchronization”, explained one of the signatories Hirokazu Takahashi.
Elucidate the perceptive mechanisms of music
Research, in which 20 people and 10 rats participated, suggests that the optimal tempo for rhythm synchronization depends on the time constant in the brain, showing, he added, that the animal brain can be useful in elucidating the music perceptual mechanisms.
In the experiment, the rodents wore miniature wireless accelerometers, which could measure the slightest movements of the head. Human participants also had them on their headphones.
All of them listened to one-minute fragments of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448, to four different tempos: 14 %, 120 %, 200 % Y 400 % of original speed.
Original tempo is 120 BPM and the results showed that the synchronization of the rats’ rhythms was clearer within the range of 120-132 bpm.
Both rats and humans shook their heads in time with a similar rhythm, and the level decreased how much m The more the music sped up.
“To the best of our knowledge,” said Takahashi, “this is the first report on innate rhythm synchronization in animals that was not achieved through musical training or exposure.”
Understanding the origin of music
In addition to being a fascinating insight into the mind of animals and the development of our own rhythm synchronization, the researchers also see it as insight into the creation of music itself.
Takahashi noted that he would now like to investigate how other musical properties, such as melody and harmony, are related to each other. with the dynamics of the brain, and how, why and what mechanisms in it create human cultural fields such as fine art, music, science, technology and religion.
The researcher considered that this question is the key to understanding how the brain works and developing next-generation artificial intelligence.
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