Overview
- Two metronome-trained macaques synchronized their taps to three human songs and shifted phase when researchers changed the tempo.
- The timing behavior persisted with a previously unheard song and after external rewards were removed, indicating sensitivity to musical structure.
- Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico led the work, which was published in Science alongside a Perspective from Princeton scholars.
- The authors say the results suggest beat perception may span a broader evolutionary continuum than species with vocal-learning abilities.
- Commentators note the intensive training and small sample size, cautioning that the behavior likely reflects conditioned responses rather than spontaneous musicality.