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Understanding the origins of musicality requires reconstructing the interactive dance between music-specific adaptations, exaptations, and cultural creations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Laurel J. Trainor*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour; McMaster University, West Hamilton, ONL8S4B2, Canada. [email protected]; https://trainorlab.mcmaster.ca/

Abstract

The evolutionary origins of complex capacities such as musicality are not simple, and likely involved many interacting steps of musicality-specific adaptations, exaptations, and cultural creation. A full account of the origins of musicality needs to consider the role of ancient adaptations such as credible singing, auditory scene analysis, and prediction-reward circuits in constraining the emergence of musicality.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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