Both scientists tested beat perception in newborns using electroencephalograms (EEG).

By using sensors they were able to measure their electrical brain responses to sounds, even when the babies were asleep.

Winkler and Honing played a rock rhythm, composed of snare, bass and hihat sounds, to sleeping babies two or three days old. Four non-syncopated variants of this pattern were created. Sometimes the sequence skipped a sound without disrupting the rhythm, while other omissions made the rhythm stumble.

When a missed note broke the rhythm, the babies had a key brain response indicating that their sensory expectations were contradicted. This suggests newborns can sense a rhythm and know when to expect the next beat.

Until now, scientists were unsure whether babies learn beat perception early in life, or whether they\'re born with it.

The study was part of a threeyear European project on how the brain processes music and other sounds, co-ordinated by Dr Susan Denham, of Plymouth University. Explains Susan:

\"What is perhaps most significant is that not only do babies\' brains register changes in beat, pitch and simple melodic patterns but they do so more or less automatically, as they are fast asleep during these experiments. People come into the world with brains that are wired-up to detect patterns.\"

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