John Benjamins Publishing Company
Relating the evolution of Music-Readiness and Language-Readiness within the context of comparative neuroprimatology
Abstract
Language- and music-readiness are demonstrated as related within comparative neuroprimatology by elaborating three hypotheses concerning music-readiness (MR): The (musicological) rhythm-first hypothesis (MR-1), the combinatoriality hypothesis (MR-2), and the socio-affect-cohesion hypothesis (MR-3). MR-1 states that rhythm precedes evolutionarily melody and tonality. MR-2 states that complex imitation and fractionation within the expanding spiral of the mirror system/complex imitation hypothesis (MS/CIH) lead to the combinatorial capacities of rhythm necessary for building up a musical lexicon and complex structures; and rhythm, in connection with repetition and variation, scaffolds both musical form and content. MR-3 states that music’s main evolutionary function is to self-induce affective states in individuals to cope with distress; rhythm, in particular isochrony, provides a temporal framework to support movement synchronization, inducing shared affective states in group members, which in turn enhances group cohesion. This document reviews current behavioural and neurocognitive research relevant to the comparative neuroprimatology of music-readiness. It further proposes to extend MS/CIH through the evolution of the relationship of the language- and music-ready brain, by comparing “affective rhythm” and prosody – i.e. by comparatively approaching the language- and music-emotion link in neuroprimatology.
Abstract
Language- and music-readiness are demonstrated as related within comparative neuroprimatology by elaborating three hypotheses concerning music-readiness (MR): The (musicological) rhythm-first hypothesis (MR-1), the combinatoriality hypothesis (MR-2), and the socio-affect-cohesion hypothesis (MR-3). MR-1 states that rhythm precedes evolutionarily melody and tonality. MR-2 states that complex imitation and fractionation within the expanding spiral of the mirror system/complex imitation hypothesis (MS/CIH) lead to the combinatorial capacities of rhythm necessary for building up a musical lexicon and complex structures; and rhythm, in connection with repetition and variation, scaffolds both musical form and content. MR-3 states that music’s main evolutionary function is to self-induce affective states in individuals to cope with distress; rhythm, in particular isochrony, provides a temporal framework to support movement synchronization, inducing shared affective states in group members, which in turn enhances group cohesion. This document reviews current behavioural and neurocognitive research relevant to the comparative neuroprimatology of music-readiness. It further proposes to extend MS/CIH through the evolution of the relationship of the language- and music-ready brain, by comparing “affective rhythm” and prosody – i.e. by comparatively approaching the language- and music-emotion link in neuroprimatology.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introducing the Volume 1
-
An Old Road Map to Draw Upon
- Computational challenges of evolving the language-ready brain 7
- Computational challenges of evolving the language-ready brain 22
-
Starting from the Macaque
- Reflections on the differential organization of mirror neuron systems for hand and mouth and their role in the evolution of communication in primates 38
- Plasticity, innateness, and the path to language in the primate brain 54
- Voice, gesture and working memory in the emergence of speech 70
-
Bringing in Emotion
- Relating the evolution of Music-Readiness and Language-Readiness within the context of comparative neuroprimatology 86
- Why do we want to talk? 102
- Mind the gap – moving beyond the dichotomy between intentional gestures and emotional facial and vocal signals of nonhuman primates 121
-
Turn-taking and Prosociality
- From sharing food to sharing information 136
- Social manipulation, turn-taking and cooperation in apes 151
- Language origins 167
-
Imitation, Pantomime and Development
- The evolutionary roots of human imitation, action understanding and symbols 183
- Pantomime and imitation in great apes 200
- From action to spoken and signed language through gesture 216
- Praxis, symbol and language 239
-
Action, Tool Making and Language
- Archaeology and the evolutionary neuroscience of language 256
- Tracing the evolutionary trajectory of verbal working memory with neuro-archaeology 272
- From actions to events 289
-
Meaning and Grammar Emerging
- From evolutionarily conserved frontal regions for sequence processing to human innovations for syntax 318
- The evolution of enhanced conceptual complexity and of Broca’s area 336
- Mental travels and the cognitive basis of language 352
-
The Road Map
- The comparative neuroprimatology 2018 (CNP-2018) road map for research on How the Brain Got Language 370
- Index 389
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introducing the Volume 1
-
An Old Road Map to Draw Upon
- Computational challenges of evolving the language-ready brain 7
- Computational challenges of evolving the language-ready brain 22
-
Starting from the Macaque
- Reflections on the differential organization of mirror neuron systems for hand and mouth and their role in the evolution of communication in primates 38
- Plasticity, innateness, and the path to language in the primate brain 54
- Voice, gesture and working memory in the emergence of speech 70
-
Bringing in Emotion
- Relating the evolution of Music-Readiness and Language-Readiness within the context of comparative neuroprimatology 86
- Why do we want to talk? 102
- Mind the gap – moving beyond the dichotomy between intentional gestures and emotional facial and vocal signals of nonhuman primates 121
-
Turn-taking and Prosociality
- From sharing food to sharing information 136
- Social manipulation, turn-taking and cooperation in apes 151
- Language origins 167
-
Imitation, Pantomime and Development
- The evolutionary roots of human imitation, action understanding and symbols 183
- Pantomime and imitation in great apes 200
- From action to spoken and signed language through gesture 216
- Praxis, symbol and language 239
-
Action, Tool Making and Language
- Archaeology and the evolutionary neuroscience of language 256
- Tracing the evolutionary trajectory of verbal working memory with neuro-archaeology 272
- From actions to events 289
-
Meaning and Grammar Emerging
- From evolutionarily conserved frontal regions for sequence processing to human innovations for syntax 318
- The evolution of enhanced conceptual complexity and of Broca’s area 336
- Mental travels and the cognitive basis of language 352
-
The Road Map
- The comparative neuroprimatology 2018 (CNP-2018) road map for research on How the Brain Got Language 370
- Index 389
