Unless you’re a robot, your speech has a musical quality to it. This pitch-and-rhythm variation, known as prosody, conveys emotion. A new study suggests that people whose speech is most sing-songy may have a stronger ability to empathize with others.

Using functional MRI, scientists at the University of Southern California measured brain activity as volunteers perceived or produced speech with intonations that sounded happy, sad, questioning or neutral. They found that specific parts of the brain region known as Broca’s area (a well-known speech center in the brain) are active both when listening to and when producing lilted speech. Subjects with the highest level of activity in these prosody-specific brain areas also tended to score highly on measures of empathy.

Unlike grammar, semantics and other properties of language, prosody is universal across cultures and even between species—pets understand human commands not because of the words spoken but rather because of emotional intonations, says Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, lead author of the study and an occupational scientist at U.S.C. “Prosody is an essential component of social communication,” she says. [For more on the musical qualities of speech, see “Speaking in Tones,” by Diana Deutsch.]

3 Comments

1. 1. annb 04:52 PM 8/10/10

   I've definitely seen this with animals. We have a cat that adopted us after living as a stray. He's still a little jumpy. Once he is inside for the night, we won't let him outside, but of course he wants to go out. My husband growls a "No!" at him, and the poor cat cringes as if he's done something wrong. But if I say "No" in a sympathetic tone, the cat will heave a sigh, turn away from the door, and find something else to do. In fact, try this: Say "no" in as many different ways as you can. You can command, reprimand, sympathize, express disbelieve or amazement, ask a question; all just using prosody.

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2. 2. Wayne Williamson 08:00 PM 8/10/10

   annb...i've seen this with humans to. the difference between hearing a lecture in a monotone vs one that is "emotional". the monotone will put to sleep where as the differing tone one will keep you listening...

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3. 3. Marc Lévesque 09:16 AM 8/11/10

   *The two talking cats*
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3U0udLH974
   
   Amazing and cute.

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