This one also is food for thought "Dr. Levitin said humans are a musical species and that our brains co-evolved with music as a means of communicating with each other.".
That is pretty fascinating.
On a more serious note and on topic:
Motherese from Wikipedia:
"
Another possible origin of music is motherese, the vocal-gestural communication between adults (usually mothers) and infants.[5] This form of communication involves melodic, rhythmic and movement patterns as well as the communication of intention and meaning, and in this sense is similar to music.
Motherese has two main functions: to strengthen bonding between mother and infant, and to help the infant to acquire language. Both of these functions enhance the infant's chances of survival and may therefore be subject to natural selection.
Motherese has a gestural vocabulary that is similar across cultures. The way mothers and babies raise and lower their voices and simultaneously change their expressions and move their hands is similar in Asia and Europe, for example (in spite of linguistic differences such as tone languages versus non-tone languages).
... Research on the ability of the fetus to learn and remember sound patterns, and on the active two-way nature of mother-infant communication, is consistent with this theory.
... If this theory is true, the internal sounds of the human body and the relationship between those patterns and emotional state may be the ultimate source of the relationship between patterns of sound and movement in music and their strong emotional connotations. This theory is consistent with the universal link between music and religion and the changed states of consciousness that music can co-evoke."
Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_musicMakes sense that dopamine would be involved and critical.
- David.
