Social origins of rhythm? Synchrony and temporal regularity in human vocalization.

ABSTRACT: Humans have a capacity to perceive and synchronize with rhythms. This is unusual in that only a minority of other species exhibit similar behavior. Study of synchronizing species (particularly anurans and insects) suggests that simultaneous signal production by different individuals may play a critical role in the development of regular temporal signaling. Accordingly, we investigated the link between simultaneous signal production and temporal regularity in our own species. Specifically, we asked whether inter-individual synchronization of a behavior that is typically irregular in time, speech, could lead to evenly-paced or "isochronous" temporal patterns. Participants read nonsense phrases aloud with and without partners, and we found that synchronous reading resulted in greater regulari

SUBMITTER: Bowling DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3843660 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature