RHYTHMSYNC · Rhythm synchronization between music and spoken language

Rhythm synchronization between music and spoken language

Rhythm pervades the universe. Most natural and cultural phenomena are governed by rhythm. The waves of the sea move rhythmically, we walk rhythmically, our heart beats rhythmically and music as well as dance is rhythmic. While the elements that establish rhythm in different natural and cultural phenomena may vary, humans are thought to perceive rhythm whenever alternation or a regular occurrence of elements in time occurs1. Rhythm is thus vital for a wide range of cognitive abilities, ranging from time perception and building expectations of future events, to perceiving and producing spoken language, music as well as dance. Yet despite considerable research in various cognitive domains, comparing different rhythmic phenomena directly is difficult. The cognitive machinery necessary for rhythm perception and the role it plays in various cognitive domains remains poorly understood. This project investigated how rhythms in music and language interact by exploiting the fact that the perception of auditory rhythm is often spontaneously accompanied by synchronized rhythmic motor behavior. When we listen to music we often tap our finger or our foot to the beat of the music. Also, when we speak our hands and our head move in synchrony with the prosody of our spoken utterances. How does rhythmic synchronization between language and music – that are both highly modular cognitive abilities – occur? How does the mind resolve the differences in the basic elements carrying rhythm in language (consonants vs vowels) and in music (beats)? How is the production of musical rhythm synchronized to the speech signal, and does it differ from the way the production of speech or song is synchronized to musical melodies? This project therefore had the following Objectives: 1) To investigate rhythm perception by looking at how rhythm interacts in two highly modular cognitive abilities – i.e. language and music. 2) To exploit rhythm synchronization as a direct online measure for comparing rhythm in language and music. 3) Determine how the human mind resolves rhythmic conflicts between speech and music. 4) Explore how the predisposition for rhythm synchronization interacts with developmental factors by studying infants at different developmental.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union