60秒科学:Making Music for Monkey Minds

Making Music for Monkey Minds
A study in the journal Biology Letters finds that music based on monkey's own calls has similar effects on them that human music has on us. Cynthia Graber reports

Music is known to make us happy, or calm, or sad. But do other animals respond to dulcet¹ tones, as well? In studies, our primate² cousins prefer silence to our music. But maybe we were playing the wrong tune³.

Psychologist Charles Snowdon and musician David Teie teamed up to show that South American monkeys called cotton-top tamarins do respond to music: their own. The study was published in the journal Biology Letters.

With actual monkey calls in mind (MONKEY SOUNDS) Teie composed monkey music. (THREAT MUSIC) That tune was based on calls signifying anxiety. This one represents a happy, safe condition. (CALMING MUSIC) Snowdon played the compositions to tamarins. They became agitated⁴ hearing the threat song. And the more upbeat music put them in a mellow⁵ mood.

Much of what we communicate does depend on tone, not just words. This study suggests that what Snowdon calls the musical elements of speech has a deep evolutionary⁶ history. Just goes to show that music can “soothe a savage⁷ breast”—as long as it’s species appropriate.

—Cynthia Graber

 

1 dulcet   

adj.悦耳的

参考例句：

• Quickly,in her dulcet voice,Tamara told him what had happened.塔玛拉用她美妙悦耳的声音快速向他讲述了所发生的一切。
• Her laugh was dulcet and throaty.她的笑声低沉悦耳。

2 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

3 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

4 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

5 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

6 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。