Music, Language, and the Brain

• The first book to examine the relationship between music and language from a cognitive psychology perspective
• Argues that music and language share deep connections, challenging the traditional belief that music and language are processed independently
• Companion Website provides sound and music examples referenced in text

In the first comprehensive study of the relationship between music and language from the standpoint of cognitive neuroscience, Aniruddh D. Patel challenges the widespread belief that music and language are processed independently. Since Platos time, the relationship between music and language has attracted interest and debate from a wide range of thinkers. Recently, scientific research on this topic has been growing rapidly, as scholars from diverse disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive science, music cognition, and neuroscience are drawn to the music-language interface as one way to explore the extent to which different mental abilities are processed by separate brain mechanisms. Accordingly, the relevant data and theories have been spread across a range of disciplines. This book provides the first synthesis, arguing that music and language share deep and critical connections, and that comparative research provides a powerful way to study the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying these uniquely human abilities.

Table of Contents

1:Introduction
2:Sound Elements: Pitch and Timbre
2.1:Introduction
2.2:Musical Sound Systems
2.3:Linguistic Sound Systems
2.4:Sound Category Learning as a Key Link
2.5:Conclusion
Appendixes
3:Rhythm
3.1:Introduction
3.2:Rhythm in Music
3.3:Rhythm in Speech
3.4:Interlude: Rhythm in Poetry and Song
3.5:Non-Periodic Aspects of Rhythm as a Key Link
3.6:Conclusion
Appendixes
4:Melody
4.1:Introduction
4.2:Melody in Music: Comparisons to Speech
4.3:Speech Melody: Links to Music
4.4:Interlude: Musical and Linguistic Melody in Song
4.5:Melodic Statistics and Melodic Contour as Key Links
4.6:Conclusion
Appendix
5:Syntax
5.1:Introduction
5.2:The Structural Richness of Musical Syntax
5.3:Formal Differences and Similarities between Musical and Linguistic Syntax
5.4:Neural Resources for Syntactic Integration as a Key Link
5.5:Conclusion
6:Meaning
6.1:Introduction
6.2:A Brief Taxonomy of Musical Meaning
6.3:Linguistic Meaning in Relation to Music
6.4:Interlude: Linguistic and Musical Meaning in Song
6.5:The Expression and Appraisal of Emotion as a Key Link
6.6:Conclusion
7:Evolution
7.1:Introduction
7.2:Language and Natural Selection
7.3:Music and Natural Selection
7.4:Music and Evolution: Neither Adaptation nor Frill
7.5:Beat-Based Rhythm Processing as a Key Research Area
7.6:Conclusion
Appendix
Afterword
References
List of Sound Examples
Lis of Credits
Author Index
Subject Index