OT: Why musicians make such appealing partners
Posted: 06 Mar 2009 13:53http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... tions.html
Ever wondered why musicians attract such ardent fan bases?
It turns out they make ideal partners because they are finely tuned to pick up on emotional cues in conversation, scientists say.
A research team from Northwestern University found biological evidence that musical training enhances an individual’s ability to recognize and respond to emotion in sound.
'Quickly and accurately identifying emotion in sound is a skill that translates across all arenas, whether in the predator-infested jungle or in the classroom, boardroom or bedroom,' said lead author Dana Strait.
The researchers measured brainstem processing of pitch, timing and timbre in musicians and non-musicians who listened to a fragment of a baby's cry.
Sensitivity to the sound, and in particular to the more complicated part of the sound that contributes most to its emotional content, was measured through scalp electrodes.
The musicians’ brainstems locked onto the complex part of the sound known to carry more emotional elements but de-emphasized the simpler (less emotion conveying) part of the sound. This was not the case in non-musicians.
The study, published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, also found that those who had more years of musical experience and began their music studies were better able to process the emotion.
The authors of the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, also noted that the acoustic elements that musicians process more efficiently are the very same ones that children with language disorders, such as dyslexia and autism, have problems encoding.
'It would not be a leap to suggest that children with language processing disorders may benefit from musical experience,' co-author neuroscientist Nina Kraus said.
Ever wondered why musicians attract such ardent fan bases?
It turns out they make ideal partners because they are finely tuned to pick up on emotional cues in conversation, scientists say.
A research team from Northwestern University found biological evidence that musical training enhances an individual’s ability to recognize and respond to emotion in sound.
'Quickly and accurately identifying emotion in sound is a skill that translates across all arenas, whether in the predator-infested jungle or in the classroom, boardroom or bedroom,' said lead author Dana Strait.
The researchers measured brainstem processing of pitch, timing and timbre in musicians and non-musicians who listened to a fragment of a baby's cry.
Sensitivity to the sound, and in particular to the more complicated part of the sound that contributes most to its emotional content, was measured through scalp electrodes.
The musicians’ brainstems locked onto the complex part of the sound known to carry more emotional elements but de-emphasized the simpler (less emotion conveying) part of the sound. This was not the case in non-musicians.
The study, published in the European Journal of Neuroscience, also found that those who had more years of musical experience and began their music studies were better able to process the emotion.
The authors of the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, also noted that the acoustic elements that musicians process more efficiently are the very same ones that children with language disorders, such as dyslexia and autism, have problems encoding.
'It would not be a leap to suggest that children with language processing disorders may benefit from musical experience,' co-author neuroscientist Nina Kraus said.
Sweat is a powerful thing.
