Author: Tristan Greene / Source: The Next Web
A team of scientists from the University of Southern California (USC) are taking on a decades-old mystery concerning the human brain and how it processes utterances that aren’t linguistic in nature. You may know this phenomenon as beatboxing.
The legends surrounding the birth of hip hop invariably begin in New York City with DJs cutting together record samples to create a new style of music. But, there are those who cite beatboxing – the art of making beats with your mouth – as the real soundtrack to the movement.
Beatboxing rose to popularity on the work of artists like Doug E. Fresh and Biz Markie. These pioneers created soundscapes with nothing but the expert use of their vocal cords and the muscles in their face, mouth, and throat.
The incredible artistic talent displayed by the most notable among beatboxers is without question, but the science behind what these artists can do has always been a bit of a mystery.
Specifically, research has been unclear on what – if any – differences occur in the brain’s process when a person makes a non-linguistic utterance, such as a snare drum sound, versus normal speech.
According to the team’s…
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