Events Calendar

Rhythm in Speech & Music

Guest Speaker: Aniruddh D. Patel, Esther J. Burnham Senior Fellow, The Neurosciences Institute, San Diego, California Abstract: Rhythm is fundamental to speech and music. What do these two domains share in terms of rhythmic organization? There is a long history of interest in this topic, but remarkably few empirical explorations have been conducted. This is particularly striking since there are large bodies of empirical research on rhythm within each domain. In this presentation I suggest that progress in empirical comparative research depends on a clear distinction between periodic and nonperiodic rhythms in human auditory cognition. I will argue that speech and music have fundamental differences in terms of periodic rhythms, and important connections in terms of nonperiodic rhythms. Evidence for this argument draws on diverse strands of evidence, including quantitative comparisons of rhythmic patterns in speech and music, rese arch on rhythm perception, and data from cognitive neuroscience. Bio: Aniruddh D. Patel is the Esther J. Burnham Senior Fellow at The Neurosciences
Institute in San Diego, California, and a pioneer in the use of new concepts and technology to investigate the neural correlates of music. His research focuses on how the brain processes music and language. He has pursued this topic with a variety of techniques, including neuroimaging, neuropsychology, behavioral studies, theoretical analyses, phonetic/acoustic research, cross- cultural research,and comparative studies of nonhuman animals. Patel earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholar. After a year at the National Taiwan University as a Luce Scholar, he went on to Harvard University as an NSF Fellow, where he studied with Edward O. Wilson. He did a joint postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard and at Tufts University before joining The Neurosciences Institute. Patel's research has appeared in numerous scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognition, Brain and Language, and Music Perception. His 2008 book Music, Language, and the Brain (Oxford Univ. Press) has been hailed "an intellectual tour de force" by Nature and has received positive reviews in 10 scholarly journals, spanning the sciences and humanities. Pronounced "a major synthesis" by Oliver Sacks, the book won a 2008 ASCAP Deems-Taylor Award. Patel is President of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (2009- 2011), and is interested in promoting research and education in the field of music cognition. He recently won the "Music has Power Award" from the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in New York City, for his studies of music and language. Hosted by Prof. Elaine Chew. Relevant readings:[First three available at http://www.nsi.edu/users/patel/publications.html]Patel, A.D., Iversen, J.R., & Rosenberg, J.C. (2006). Comparing the rhythm and melody of speech and music: The case of British English and French. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119:3034-3047.Iversen, J.R., Patel, A.D., & Ohgushi, K. (2008). Perception of rhythmic grouping depends on auditory experience. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 124: 2263-2271.Patel, A.D. (2006). Musical rhythm, linguistic rhythm, and human evolution. Music Perception, 24:99-104.Ch. 3 (Rhythm) of Patel, A.D. (2008). Music, Language, and the Brain. NY: Oxford Univ. Press

Location: Estelle Doheny Eye Foundation (DOH) - eny Library, Rm: 240

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Talyia Veal