Gotta Dance...!

Remember that weird dancing baby motif on "Ally McBeal"? Well, it turns out that her hallucination was true to the facts:

Babies are pre-programmed to dance and to enjoy it, research by the University of York has shown.

The study of 120 children aged between five months and two years found that babies spontaneously started moving to music and rhythmic beats.

Scientists also found that the better the children were at moving in time with the music, the more they smiled.

This study suggests that we are hardwired to bust a move, and that it pleases us (if not our dance partners).



But why? The article goes on to state "It is not known why humans have developed this predisposition."

Might there be a connection between music, exertion and pleasure? (Is this why it can be great to listen to music at work?) When does this propensity for rug-cutting, and movement in general, start to wane?

And, appropos to this blog, if we introduce kids early on to the pleasures and perils of digital life, will this, too, decline? I'd love to see a longitudinal study, because perhaps it's already declined. Or perhaps the infants studied lack the tactile skills to manipulate electronics yet. But just wait. Test them again in three years...