New research shows babies are born to dance

10:45, 17 March 2010

WASHINGTON. March 17. KAZINFORM Researchers have discovered that infants respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech. The findings, based on the study of infants aged between five months and two years old, suggest that babies may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

The research was conducted by Marcel Zentner, from the University of York's Department of Psychology, and Tuomas Eerola, from the Finnish Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyvaskyla. The findings are published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition.

Infants listened to a variety of audio stimuli including classical music, rhythmic beats and speech. Their spontaneous movements were recorded by video and 3D motion-capture technology and compared across the different stimuli.

Professional ballet dancers were also used to analyze the extent to which the babies matched their movement to the music; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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