Download Prenatal “experience” and the phylogenesis and ontogenesis of music

Prenatal “experience” and
the phylogenesis and
ontogenesis of music
Richard Parncutt, University of Graz
Music & Science, Baden bei Wien, Austria, 1-4 October 2006
Music, the body and biology
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Movement and dance (Trevarthen)
Identity (Janata)
Melody and speech (Koelsch)
Rhythm and tempo (several…)
Emotion (several…)
Why is music like this?
Origins and definitions of music
• A definition is necessary
– to analytically explain origins
• Every definition and theory of origins
– assumes universals
– is ethnocentric
Music: A definition
(a) an acoustic signal that
(b) evokes recognizable patterns of sound,
(c) implies physical movement,
(d) is perceived as segmented and structured,
(e) is meaningful,
(f) is intentional wrt (b), (c), (d) or (e), and
(g) is accepted by a cultural group
Further musical universals
• Exists in all known cultures
• Has dedicated brain structures (Peretz)
• Functions
– social (communication, group, identity)
– emotional (share/influence states)
– religious (gods, spirits)
Widespread musical structures
 Themes and forms
 call-answer (antecedent-consequent)
 development (repetition, variation)
 Melody
 pitch and interval distributions (M2, P8, P5 etc.)
 rise-fall phrases
 Rhythm
 pulse perception/production, entrainment
 tempo distributions
Origins of music
Some theories
• Survival
– mating (Darwin)
– training (Roederer)
– group survival
• long-distance communication (Stumpf, 1911)
• rhythmic work (Bücher, 1896; Hornbostel, 1912)
• Extended vocalisation
– from speech (Spencer, 1890)
– "tumbling strains" (Sachs, 1962)
– primate vocalisations (Wallin,
2000)
• Imitation
– Child’s drive to play
– Movement, gesture, mimesis
(Tolbert, 2001)
– Environmental sounds
(Cazden, 1951)
Origins of music
Theoretical problems
• Evolutionary adaptation vs “parasite”
• Strong emotionality; spirituality, identity
• Biological basis of structures
– rhythm and walking/heartbeat
– melody and speech
• Roles of men vs women
• What actually happened and why?
Origins of music
a new scenario
1. Fetus
a) environmental sounds and movements
b) perception
c) classical conditioning
d) communication with mother
2. Infant
a) transnatal memory
b) protomusical sensitivity
c) communication with mother / adults
d) operant conditioning
3. Child and adult
reflective consciousness and culture
1. Fetus
a) Environmental sounds, movements
Internal to mother’s body
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vocalizations and breathing
heartbeat
body movements and footfalls
digestion
All these sounds
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are repetitive
depend on mother’s (emotional) state
are muffled (low-pass to about 2 kHz)
External sounds
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Only loud, mid-frequency sound
1. Fetus
b) Perception
• Functioning cochlea and vestibule
– from 20-24 weeks
– both sound and motion
• Myelinization of auditory pathways
– from 24-28 weeks
– improved neural transmission
1. Fetus
c) Classical conditioning
• Pavlov’s dog
• Parncutt’s fetus
Both are examples of
• perceptual learning (Gibson)
• without reflective awareness
Classical conditioning
Pavlov‘s dog
neutral stimulus
unconditioned stimulus
unconditioned response
footsteps
food
saliva
many repetitions
conditioned stimulus
footsteps
conditioned response
saliva
Classical conditioning of fetus
(Spelt 1948; Hepper 1996)
neutral stimulus
unconditioned stimulus
vibration or tone
loud noise
unconditioned response
fetal movement
15-20 repetitions
conditioned stimulus
conditioned response
vibration or tone
fetal movement
Classical conditioning
Parncutt‘s fetus
neutral stimulus
unconditioned stimulus
auditory, tactile, kinesthetic
biochemical
unconditioned response
many repetitions
conditioned stimulus
conditioned response
emotional
auditory, tactile, kinesthetic
emotional
Biochemical correlates of emotion
Examples
• fear
– corticosteroids, e.g. glucocorticoids, e.g. cortisol
• anger
– high cortisol, adrenaline
– low dopamine, serotonin
• bonding
– oxytocin
Placental filtering
• passes
– nutrients and oxygen toward fetus
– wastes and carbon dioxide away
– fetal steroids since highly lipophilic
• partly filters out
– bacteria, viruses, toxins, drugs
– chemicals like alcohol, nicotine, cocaine
Brain-blood barrier
• Protects brain from infection
• Passes lipid-soluble molecules
– O2, CO2, ethanol, steroid hormones
• Steroid hormones include
– glucocorticoids incl. cortisol
– mineralocorticoids incl. aldosterone
– sex steroids
• androgens
• estrogens
• progestagens
1. Fetus
d) “Communication” with mother
• Emotion, physical state
• Physiological and behavioural
• Survival value: bonding after birth
2. Infant
a) Transnatal “memory”
Babies “recognize” “melodies” heard
repeatedly before birth (e.g. Hepper)
This is not “memory” but
• ontogenetic adaptation to prenatal environment
• phylogenetic exaptation (Buss)
– parasitic on prenatal audition/bonding
Duration of “memory”:
• Hepper: a few weeks
• Lamont: one year?
2. Infant
b) Protomusical sensitivity
Infants are:
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sensitive to musical structure
sensitive to musical emotion
more interested in singing than speech
Trehub & Nakata (2001)
Prenatal perceptual learning model:
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heart/feet  rhythm, voice  melody
sound patterns depend on emotion
muffling emphasizes pitch contour
2. Infant
c) Communication with adults
Infant-adult vocal play (motherese)
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is universal
promotes speech acquisition
involves meaningful gestures (Papousek)
may underlie (musical) ritual (Dissanayake)
projects prenatal learning into childhood
2. Infant
d) Operant conditioning
• Skinner’s rat
• Parncutt’s baby
Both are examples of
• perceptual learning (Gibson)
• without reflective awareness
Operant conditioning
Skinner: positive reinforcement
Why does the rat push the lever?
quasi-random
behavior
accidentally
push lever
reward
receive sugar
 increase in frequency of behavior
Operant conditioning:
Motherese
Why do mother and baby exchange physical/vocal gestures?
quasi-random
accidentally create prenatally
behavior
“familiar” sound patterns
reward
emotion
 increase in frequency of behavior
3. Child and adult
Reflective consciousness
„Cultural explosion“ (Mithen) 100-50 kya
• “conscious” use of symbols
– painting, body decoration
• social organisation
– migration, ritual (e.g. burial)
 Music as deliberate creation of emotional
sound patterns
The origins of music
3 stages
A = adaptation, E = exaptation (parasite)
1. Fetus: Emotionality of pitch-time patterns
A: Prenatal bonding and preparation for language
E: Classical conditioning (sound-movement-emotion)
2. Infant: Motherese as protomusic
A: Postnatal bonding and preparation for language
E: Operant conditioning (sound-movement-emotion)
3. Children and adults: Music as we know it
A: Reflective language and consciousness
E: Music as deliberate emotional manipulation
Thesis
• Music is exaptive
– a parasite on pre- and postnatal
• bonding
• preparation for language
• Music may also be adaptive
– trains individual cognitive and motor abilities
– promotes social coherence
If music has prenatal origins…
Implications
• Music and the body
– The body is music’s origin
• Music and biology
– Biology underlies musical structures
• Music, identity, spirituality
– Music is a cultural elaboration of cognitive
representation of mother as perceived by fetus