Study show listening to Metallica calms monkeys.

[Dinner]

If it works on monkeys maybe we could use it to relax the town hall loons.

Scientists create music that helps monkeys chill out

Monkey melodies inspired by the animals' calls had a calming effect, hinting at how human music may have evolved

Music inspired by the soothing calls of contented monkeys relaxes the animals when it is played back to them, researchers have discovered.

Researchers composed "monkey melodies" to investigate whether non-human primates are capable of responding to music with the same emotions as people.

They found that while monkeys were left cold by human music, they reacted emotionally to tunes that incorporated features commonly heard in monkey calls, such as rising and falling tones.
Calming monkey music Link to this audio

Tamarin monkeys lounged around and ate more when they heard music inspired by the calming sounds the animals make when they are safe, the study found.
Alarming monkey music Link to this audio

Music based on more fearful monkey calls made the animals agitated and anxious when it was played in their enclosure.

The study, published today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, will help psychologists understand the evolutionary roots of music and its effect on the brain, the authors said.

"The emotional components of music and animal calls might be very similar, and from an evolutionary perspective, we are finding that the note patterns, dissonance and timing are important for communicating affective states in both animals and people," said Chuck Snowdon, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The findings suggest that the vocal characteristics of tamarin calls evolved to spread calming or anxious feelings throughout groups of the animals.

Snowdon teamed up with David Teie, a cellist with the American National Symphony Orchestra, to investigate whether humans were alone in responding emotionally to music.

In the study, 14 cotton-top tamarins were played 30-second blasts of music while the researchers noted any changes in their behaviour. The animals were played Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and a soft piano piece from The Fragile by rock band Nine Inch Nails, followed by Metallica's Of Wolf and Man and an excerpt from The Grudge by rock band Tool.

They then heard the specially composed monkey music.

The only human music that elicited any response was the heavy metal band Metallica, whose music had the unexpected effect of calming the monkeys.

The research could lead to a rethink of animal husbandry guidelines, as it showed that monkeys rarely respond positively to human music. "Lots of primate research laboratories use radios to provide what is called 'enrichment' for their animals, but you can't expect another species to be interested in our music just because we are human," Snowdon said. "Why should a tamarin find our music comforting? I find the monkey music quite irritating,"

Josh McDermott, an expert on music perception in primates at the Centre for Neural Science at New York University, agreed. "This work shows monkeys don't respond to human music. They might be more comforted if these more familiar sounds were played to them."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...music-tamarins

[Ben Kenobi]

It's the Obama folks biting off fingers...

[Japher]

<--- not listening to Metallica

[OzzyKP]

If it works on monkeys maybe we could use it to relax the town hall loons.

Thank you Ms. Maddow.

[Dinner]

Hell, the finger guy has no one to blame but himself. He punches a guy in the face twice just because he didn't like the guy's sign and then he sticks his finger in the man's mouth? Sure, it was wrong but the loon practically did it to himself.

[Japher]

We would need to be outraged if Obama wasn't trying to ram socialism down our throats.

[Theben]

Damn it, there's a perfect Bloom County cartoon for this and I can't find it anywhere.

[AAHZ]

.

[DinoDoc]

Sure, it was wrong but the loon practically did it to himself.

Was the other guy Mike Tyson or Hannibal Lector? Typically you don't assume the other guy is a cannibal.

[Dinner]

Can you at least admit that putting your finger in someone's mouth is dumb especially after you've jumped on top of him and punched him twice because you didn't like his sign?

[DinoDoc]

I kinda think cannibalism is the bigger issue here. If he'd just restricted himself to not eating his opponent, I'd say you were less of a tool for excusing cannibalism in the name of Obama.

[Dinner]

There was no cannibalism and you know it. The problem is you're just a liar.

[Theben]

I kinda think cannibalism is the bigger issue here. If he'd just restricted himself to not eating his opponent, I'd say you were less of a tool for excusing cannibalism in the name of Obama.

I didn't know DD was a bleeding heart liberal.

[Dis]

too bad they played one of Metallica's crappier songs.

I always debated the effect metal had on me. I largely gave up on metal because I believe it made me angrier which I don't want. I don't want to be one of those angry old men you see *****ing about Obama. Although I ***** about Obama already, so I'm halfway there.

It's one of the reasons I listen to classical. It helps relax me. It's not a huge effect, but I do notice some small effect. I listen to metal when going to the gym. It helps pump me up.