Babies prefer listening to live music compared to recorded sessions

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Babies watching a live baby opera were significantly more engaged and their heart rates more in sync than those watching a recording of the same show identical to the live version, researchers have found. The findings suggested that babies too feel the impact of being at a live show, through both musicians' interactions with an audience and the social experience of being in a crowd, the study from the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada, said. Baby opera is an online mash-up of animation and live-action performances made especially for under four year olds. «It speaks to the shared experience,» said Laura Cirelli, assistant professor in the department of psychology and co-author of the study published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. «Their heart rates were speeding up and slowing down in a similar fashion to other babies watching the show. »Those babies were dealing with all these distractions in the concert hall, but still had these uninterrupted bursts of attention," she said, recalls moments when a calm would sweep over the babies, and other times when a change in pitch or vocal riff would excite them all.

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Socialisation is known to be crucial during childhood development as the infant's brain is laying the groundwork for future life skills and abilities as it grows. Cirelli says music can play a powerful part in making those important bonds. «This audience study shows that even in a community context, infants are engaging with the music and connecting to their fellow audience members,» she said. The researchers examined the responses of 120 babies aged six to 14