The Origins of Musicality, edited by Henkjan Honing and published by The MIT Press, offers an interdisciplinary exploration into the fundamental capacity humans possess to perceive, appreciate, and create music. Through contributions from experts in biology, musicology, neurology, genetics, computer science, anthropology, psychology, and other fields, this volume delves into the nature of musicality, questioning whether it is a uniquely human trait and investigating its evolutionary roots. Contributors discuss the biological and cognitive mechanisms underlying musical perception and production, outline research programs for studying musicality in both humans and nonhuman animals, and provide insights into computational models of animal song and creativity. The book also offers a comprehensive historical context for understanding the development of these studies, aiming to identify basic neurocognitive mechanisms that make up musicality and develop methods for analyzing musical phenotypes with potential biological implications.
