The ability of newborn babies to perceive the beat in music has been confirmed by recent research conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Amsterdam and the HUN-REN Research Center for Natural Sciences (TTK) in Hungary.
Contrary to previous assumptions that this capability might be attributed solely to statistical learning, the study reveals that beat perception is a distinct cognitive mechanism present at birth. Published on November 27 in the journal Cognition, the research sheds light on the early stages of how infants process and respond to music.Â
Henkjan Honing, the author of the study and professor of Music Cognition at the UvA, expresses the ongoing mystery surrounding how newborns perceive, remember, and process music. He notes that as early as 2009, their research indicated that infants just a few days old possess the ability to recognize a regular pulse in music—the beat, a fundamental characteristic for creating and appreciating music.Â
Given the importance of replicating and expanding on previous findings, the UvA and TTK collaborated once again, employing a new paradigm in their experiment with 27 newborns. The researchers manipulated the timing of drum rhythms to investigate whether babies could distinguish between statistical learning, involving the order of sounds in a drum rhythm, and beat induction, which involves recognizing a beat.Â
To conduct the experiment, two versions of a drum rhythm were presented to the babies through headphones. In the first version, the timing was isochronous, meaning the distance between sounds remained constant, allowing for the perception of a pulse or beat. In the second version, the drum pattern was the same but presented with random timing (jittered), preventing beat perception while still allowing the sequence of sounds to be learned. Brain wave measurements (EEG) were utilized, as behavioral responses in newborns are challenging to observe.Â
The results indicated that when the time interval between beats was consistently the same, the babies exhibited brain responses indicative of perceiving the beat. Conversely, when the same pattern was played at irregular time intervals, the babies did not demonstrate beat perception. This critical distinction supports the idea that the ability to hear a beat is innate and not merely a result of learned sound sequences.Â
Co-author István Winkler, a professor at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology at TTK, emphasizes the non-trivial nature of this skill, highlighting its specificity to newborns. He suggests that the findings underscore the significance of baby and nursery rhymes for the auditory development of young children.
Understanding early perception becomes crucial for unraveling infant cognition and exploring the potential role of musical skills in early development. Honing adds a broader perspective, noting that while many people may take beat perception for granted, it is a fundamental human trait with potential evolutionary significance.
The ability to perceive regularity in music enables individuals to dance and make music together, contributing to the evolution of our capacity for music as a crucial aspect of human development. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the early stages of musical cognition in infants and the role it plays in shaping their development.Â
Journal Reference Â
Gábor P. Háden et al, Beat processing in newborn infants cannot be explained by statistical learning based on transition probabilities, Cognition (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105670Â
