Our sense of rhythm might come from monkeys as scientists uncover they dance to Backstreet Boys
Scientists have made a breakthrough which suggests humans’ sense of rhythm could date back to our monkey ancestors, after they did a test which saw a group of macaques tap out a beat to Backstreet Boys
Boffins have discovered our sense of rhythm may date back to our primate ancestors. They studied macaques and found they can be trained to develop a consistent ability to groove to a beat.
Researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico initially trained the monkeys to synchronise tapping to the beat of a metronome.
Later they were played songs including Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by Backstreet Boys, A New England by Billy Bragg and You’re the First, the Last, My Everything by Barry White.
The academics said that the monkeys “developed consistent tapping rhythms across all songs”.
They added that as the tempo of the music shifted, so did their tapping, showing that they were “synchronising to musical structure”.
It had previously been thought that the ability to recognise and move in time to a beat was uniquely human.
The study, published in the journal Science, noted that the macaques had to undergo intensive training.
But it stated that the fact that their brains are capable of keeping time show the correct pathways are there.
The researchers said: “This study presents a key advance toward understanding the neurobiological and evolutionary origins of musical beat perception.”
Princeton University eggheads Asif Ghazanfar and Gavin Steingo said the findings shine a new light on debates over evolution.
They said: “Charles Darwin’s ideas about the evolution of music were pitted against those of the sociologist Herbert Spencer.
“Darwin believed the ability to make music evolved as a trait with adaptive value across animal groups before the advent of contemporary humans, whereas Spencer believed only humans can make true music.
“It is unclear whether the ability to follow the beat among humans, macaques and parrots… is the result of common selection pressures and, if so, what those selection pressures could be.”
