Babies Sensitive To Music From Birth

Baby

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, October 27, 2021, 9:46

According to the research by a new project called EmCAP, newborn babies react to music while sleep. Research was carried out by Project coordinator Susan Denham, which involved playing music to the new born babies and measuring their brain activities.

Encephalograph (EEG), an instrument able to measure brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp, was attached on the scalp of the babies. Music was then played, to test the pattern they were sensitive to and whether they would predict what was coming next based on what had gone before.

"The babies were presented with sequences of sounds of different tone colour, different musical instruments, if you like, but all of the same pitch. Occasionally, you play a sound of a different pitch and watch the EEG to see if they produce a distinctive reaction to this deviant sound," said Denham.
Similar tests were carried out to test if the babies were sensitive to rhythmic and melodic patterns as well. The results concluded that the new born had a sense of pitch from birth. This was however, not learnt through experience, as it was previously thought. It was also found that the babies were sensitive to beat in the music.

"The bottom line is we come into the world with brains that are continually looking for patterns, and telling us when there is something unexpected we should learn about," said Denham. This capability allows the babies to grasp their environment and various factors related with it.

The findings can be applied for developing early screening techniques and treatments for cognitive hearing problems. The discoveries has bought the music cognition to a new light and highlights the practice benefits of the music technologists involved in the project.

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