It Only Takes Babies 2 Days To Learn This Advanced Skill, Study Finds
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock If you've ever said you just "have no rhythm," it turns out you might not have any excuse. A new study found that infants can recognize and learn the rhythm of music within just 48 hours of first hearing it.
We often think of musical taste and talent as a gift, but it seems that at least some of our propensity toward music is already in us when we're born. The new study provides a fascinating glimpse into how our brains learn about music, and especially just how brilliant little babies really are.
It only takes babies two days to learn, recognize, and predict rhythm in music.
Playing music for babies has long been popular advice for new parents, as decades of studies have shown it helps babies learn everything from language to motor skills. And, of course, it helps them develop an appreciation for music too. But it seems at least part of that is innate, not learned.
A recent study out of Italy examined how babies' brains process music by playing them classical pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach while they slept. In some cases, the babies were as young as just two days old. We're talking brand spankin' new, fresh out of the oven babies, here!
What they discovered is extraordinary: Even two-day-old newborns could process the rhythms in the Bach piano sonatas played. Not only that, but they were able to predict where the rhythm would go, just like we adults can do when we hear new music.
The babies' brain activity showed they innately understand rhythm but not melody.
To test the babies' abilities, scientists had them sleep in little helmets (aww!) covered in electrodes that measured their brain activity on an EEG. The goal was to see if there was a distinction between a baby merely hearing a sound and being able to process and predict a sound.
To do this, they played the babies two versions of the Bach sonatas: one normal and another scrambled, so that both the rhythms and melodies were essentially nonsensical. If their brains responded similarly to both songs, it would indicate the babies were merely hearing sounds.
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Instead, the babies' brains immediately registered the difference between the real Bach tune and the scrambled one, made probabilistic predictions about what made sense rhythmically, and then signaled when the scrambled rhythms didn't. They, in essence, had the same understanding of rhythm that the rest of us did.
But interestingly, they could ONLY do this with rhythm. “We found that newborn babies — just two days old — can already detect and predict rhythmic patterns in music, but not melodic patterns,” lead researcher Roberta Bianco from the Italian Institute of Technology explained to ZME Science. “This…shows that rhythm is present at birth, likely as a biological predisposition, whereas melody seems to emerge later through experience and learning."
Scientists believe babies understand rhythm because hearing is part of their evolutionary 'warning system.'
So why the heck are freshly baked babies able to perform statistical analysis on the rhythms of centuries-old classical music? It's sadly not because they're geniuses. It's like part of our innate, evolutionary system of using sound clues to assess our environment.
Part of the function of our auditory system is to listen for things that are "off," which may indicate something is wrong, such as unexpected or strange sounds. Especially when we were still living in nature, this was vitally important to our survival, no matter our age.
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Babies are also constantly scanning their surroundings and the people in them for cues that they are safe and comfortable. Their talent for sussing out rhythm is likely part of this evolutionary development, and Bianco posits that it's so highly attuned because even when we are asleep, we are still able to hear.
Species of apes show similar patterns, including not really caring about melody, much like human babies don't. Bianco said this indicates that babies learn these rhythm skills from action and time, including their mother's heartbeat and gait, while they're in the womb. Melody, however, is learned from speech and through exposure to music over time. So with all that said, what's your excuse for "having no rhythm" now?
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
