Story perspectives

Infants' Brains Favor Standard Music, Pitch Drives Movement

7/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers led by Trinh Nguyen (research lead) recorded EEG and video of 79 infants listening to standard, shuffled and pitch-varied song excerpts.
EEG showed stronger event-related potentials and auditory steady-state responses to standard versus shuffled music for all ages.
Only twelve-month-old infants moved more to standard music, while movements followed intensity changes rather than the beat.
Six-month-old infants responded more strongly to high-pitch music that predicted spontaneous movements, using DeepLabCut tracking.

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Story summary

Researchers led by Trinh Nguyen (research lead) recorded EEG and video of 79 infants listening to standard, shuffled and pitch-varied song excerpts.
EEG showed stronger event-related potentials and auditory steady-state responses to standard versus shuffled music for all ages.
Only twelve-month-old infants moved more to standard music, while movements followed intensity changes rather than the beat.
Six-month-old infants responded more strongly to high-pitch music that predicted spontaneous movements, using DeepLabCut tracking.