Don’t dream of plagiarism without being exposed: The human brain takes only 100 milliseconds to recognize the familiar melody

It takes our brain only about 100-300 milliseconds to recognize the melody of a familiar song. That’s the conclusion drawn from a new study done by scientists from University College London (UCL).

This study emphasizes the sensitivity of human memory, especially music memorization skills. Previous studies have shown that in dementia patients their memory may experience system errors, but their musical memory skills are preserved.

New research is not just a step into exploring the brain’s memory process. It also is the basis for explaining why the song “directed clones” can quickly be discovered so much, as well as the speed of the game “The melody is familiar,” in which contestants can identify a piece of music in seconds.

Scientists say their work could also help develop music treatments for patients with problems such as mental retardation.

Don’t dream of plagiarism without being exposed: The human brain takes only 100 milliseconds to recognize a familiar melody

In their research, scientists from UCL’s Ear Research Institute wanted to find out exactly how quickly the human brain responded to a familiar melody, as well as the process of remembering the songs inside. brain.

They experimented with 5 men and 5 women. Each person was asked to name five of their familiar songs. Then, for each participant, the scientists at UCL picked out one of their favorite tracks and mixed its melody into another similar tune (in rhythm, melody, harmony). tones, vocals, and musical instruments).

The volunteers then listened passively to 100 excerpts (less than 1 second each) of both the strange song and the song they were familiar with in random order. A total of 400 seconds of music was played.

Researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) – a technique that records electrical activity in the brain and pupil measurement – a pupil diameter measurement technique to test the stimulation that melodies produce.

The results showed that the human brain only took 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds) to recognize the familiar melody of the song since it was played, with the average recognition time being between 100 and 300 milliseconds. seconds.

This is confirmed by pupil dilation and EEG signals that record stimuli in the cerebral cortex associated with memory access.

The scientists also recruited another group of control volunteers, in which they listened to the same songs but did not feel familiar. Pupil and EEG do not show stimuli that were suspected on the original 10 volunteers.

The average time for identifying a familiar track is between 100 and 300 milliseconds.

Professor Maria Chait, author of the study, said: “These findings point to a very short circuit of time [in the brain that allows us to identify familiar melodies], and it fits [senses] [our] when they are often very deeply kept in mind. “

Understanding the brains that identify familiar tunes is not just a direction in basic science. Professor Chait said it also helped develop a therapy that is so popular today as music therapy.

” There is a growing interest in music exploitation to help dementia patients, because music-related memory seems to be well preserved in the event that the memory system fails. Accurate identification of neurological pathways and musical identification support processes can provide clues to understanding the basis of this phenomenon, “Professor Chait concluded.

Reference Sciencebeta