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Dear List, My sincere thanks to those who responded to the survey on music and evolution.
The survey asked for a yes/no answer to this question:
“Do you think evolution has specifically shaped the human brain to support music processing? (Note: there is no right answer, this is about your intuition).” There was an optional follow-up question about the main reason you have for holding your view.
The responses from the Auditory List were a perfect 50/50 split, with 53 yes and 53 no.
The reasons given for “yes” responses (from most to least common) were:
1.
Music processing (or aspects of it) evolved as the result of selective pressures relating to social bonding, mother-infant bonding, sexual fitness displays, emotional regulation, etc.
2.
Music is pervasive and spontaneous across cultures
3.
Some neurological/biological/genetic traits are domain-specific to music (rhythmic entrainment, higher-level music processing, etc.)
4.
Infants show musical preferences before musical understanding can be learned
5.
We emotionally respond to music like other stimuli important to survival
6.
Music is similar to language, perhaps even a precursor, and language was shaped by evolution
7.
Music is too dissimilar to language to be only a side-effect of language processing
8.
Epigenetic transmission of acquired traits
9.
We are drawn to music beyond merely for pleasure
10.
Musicality has been important to our culture for long enough to be selected for
11.
We can be impacted by music even when other neural processes are damaged The reasons given for “no” responses (from most to least common) were:
1.
Music seems more like a byproduct/ invention which takes advantage of other evolved traits, or music is not important enough to be the main driving force for selection in comparison to other traits which share music processing networks
2.
No proof that music has specialized evolutionary advantage
3.
Animals other than humans create music for non-communication purposes
4.
Music processing specificity in the brain comes from environmental factors rather than evolutionary ones
5.
Musical skill/interest is not universal, what we think of as "music" isn’t static over time
6.
There hasn't been enough time for musicality to evolve If you did not participate in the survey and would like to do so, here is the link (we need a tie breaker!): And if this topic interests you, you might browse the table of contents of the recent book
The Origins of Musicality (Henkjan Honing, Ed., 2018): https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Musicality-MIT-Press/dp/0262037459 (You can see the table of contents by using Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature.) Regards, Ani Aniruddh D. Patel Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Tufts University Senior Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Program in Brain, Mind, & Consciousness http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/people/patel/ |