Evolutionary Origin of Dance and Music

We like to eat because we wouldn’t survive without the energy that food gives us. We like sex because without it we wouldn’t still be here. But why do we like dancing and singing?
Eduardo Punset interviews the Neuroscientist Lawrence Parsons, who researches the relationship of human beings with music and dance. Some of the topics that are dealt with have do to with the evolutionary origin of dance and music, the relationship of dance with language, the relationship between emotions and dance, and how learning music and dance links different zones of the brain, which is good for the working memory and planning capacity.
To find out more:
* ‘So You Think You Can Dance?: PET Scans Reveal Your Brain’s Inner Choreography‘, article by Lawrence Parsons and Steven Brown in Scientific American in which they explain recent studies where complex neuronal choreographies have been discovered that support our ability to dance.
* ‘We Got Rhythm; the Mystery Is How and Why‘, article by Nicholas Wade in the New York Times.
* ‘Singing in the Brain‘, article in the San Diego Union Tribune.
* ‘Music on the Brain‘, article in the Harvard University Gazette.