2025/11/27 by Vani G. Rajendran, Luis Prado, J. Pablo Marquez +1 · 1 voice · 5 citations
Neuroscience · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Neuroscience and Music Perception #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior #Neural dynamics and brain function
paper · doi:10.1126/science.adp5220
Synchronizing movements to music is a hallmark of human culture, but its evolutionary and neurobiological origins remain unknown. This ability requires (i) extracting a steady rhythmic pulse, or beat, out of continuous sounds; (ii) projecting this pattern forward in time; and (iii) timing motor commands to anticipate future beats. Here, we demonstrate that macaques can synchronize to a subjective beat in real music and even spontaneously do so over alternative strategies. This contradicts the influential "vocal-learning hypothesis" that musical beat synchronization is privileged to species with complex learned vocalizations. We propose an alternative view of musical beat perception and synchronization as a continuum onto which different species can be mapped based on their capacity to coordinate the general abilities listed above through association with reward.