Language and music are unique to human intelligence, some would argue, in that both kinds of behavior go well beyond even the most sophisticated communicative systems and songs found in other species. Part of what appears unique to human language and music is the complexity with which perceptually discrete elements, such as syllables and chords, are organized into hierarchically structured sequences of symbols. Also, both language and music play foundational roles in social systems and cultures that are essential to the intelligence of humans as a species. However, while language and music can both be viewed as systems of communication, researchers debate whether they are supported by a common set of brain and behavioral processes.
With support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Kello and Dr. Matlock at the University of California, Merced will help organize a workshop and summer school on dynamics of language and music. The intellectual motivation for this meeting is that language and music share patterns in how their hierarchical structures are expressed in the timing and sequencing of neural and behavioral activities. The meeting will bring together humanists, neuroscientists, and cognitive scientists with a range of relevant backgrounds to share knowledge about dynamical patterns in language and music. An overarching goal is to build capacity in research at the intersection of these fields, where state-of-the-art experimental, analytical, and modeling techniques can be brought to bear on deep questions about the similarities and differences between language and music as two pinnacles of human intellect. Students will be trained in these techniques as applied to dynamical theories and hypotheses, and a schedule of speakers and artistic performances will be designed to stimulate and enhance summer school activities.
Students and researchers at UC Merced will partner with students and researchers at UC San Diego, and with the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center located there. As an NSF Science of Learning Center, TDLC supports researchers with expertise and interest in temporal dynamics, and the acquisition and learning of languages and musical skills is central to the mission of the Center. The expertise at UC San Diego complements the expertise at UC Merced, and together with a diverse set of student applicants and invited worldwide experts, the meeting is anticipated to provoke new ideas and provide opportunities for new interdisciplinary collaborations.
Language and music are similar in many respects--language has syllables, music has chords, language has sentences, music has phrases and riffs. Both are forms of communication, and both use hierarchical structure to express thoughts and emotions. However, we do not know the extent to which language and music are processed similarly in human brains, nor have we determined the extent to which the dynamics of sound and movement are shared between speech and music. These questions are central to many current issues in neural, behavioral, and cognitive sciences, and they also may hold insights into speech and language disorders, as well as autism and attentional deficits. The purpose of this NSF-funded workshop and summer school was to bring together students and researchers from a wide range of backgrounds to assess the latest research on the dynamics of music and language, and discuss new directions for theories and methodologies. Three days of talks and discussions were followed by three days of training in the latest behavioral and neuroscientific methods and technologies. Both undergraduate and graduate students worked with experts in their fields on small-scale group projects that were presented and assessed at the end of the summer school. The presentations, training courses, and networking opportunities were designed to provide participants with opportunities for new collaborations and research directions, and to enhance student skills and professional development.
