‘Part of our biological toolkit’: newborn babies can anticipate rhythm in music, researchers find

Babies in the womb begin to respond to music by about eight or nine months, the first author of the research said. Photograph: Maria Zarnayova/EPA

Newborn babies can anticipate rhythm in pieces of music, researchers have discovered, offering insights into a fundamental human trait.

Babies in the womb begin to respond to music by about eight or nine months, as shown by changes in their heart rate and body movements, said Dr Roberta Bianco, the first author of the research who is based at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rome.