The biology of music

摘要

Music may soothe the troubled breast. It might even be the food of love. But how does it cast its spell? Romantics can take comfort from the fact that science does not yet have all the answers. But it has some. When philosophers debate what it is that makes humans unique among animals, they often point to language. Other animals can communicate, of course. But despite the best efforts of biologists working with beasts as diverse as chimpanzees, dolphins and parrots, no other species has yet shown the subtleties of syntax that give human languages their power.