Communication Breakdown
Author: Kelley Brown
Faculty Supervisor: Jaime Chaves
Department: Biology
Music is globally acknowledged, even by animals, with the purpose of communication or expression. Most commonly we find a correlation between the song of birds and the imitation of those melodic sounds by humans. However, the curiosity of how the chemical romance between the song of birds affects the neurological response in humans compared to the response of individual birds by their song. This study's intention is to find a correlation of increased brain activity in both human and bird response to bird songs, with an expectation of a positive fluctuation in serotonin levels amongst humans and birds. This study provides a compilation of varying studies showing the neurological and stress response of humans given the stimulus of bird sound and classical music. This study will also focus on the response of two Passeriformes, songbird species of the White Crowned Sparrows and Song sparrow (both commonly found in San Francisco) singing to each other. In conclusion, this study will consist of an analysis of the neurological perception and response of sound, more specifically of bird songs, by humans and a vast amount of species that use song to communicate.