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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.09.28.679029

An ancient evolutionary calculus for attention signaling retained in modern music

Babbitt, G. A.·Fokoue, E. P.
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Abstract

What is in a song? Although music has long been subjected to philosophical and scientific study, the mechanism(s) of fitness or quality signaled through music has not. As music and dance functionally aim to hold an observers attention, we investigate the features of sound that stimulate attentive behavior in an audience. We propose a calculus of attention to characterize a singers f(x): Control of vocal performance, f(x); Energy within vocal performance, f'(x); and Surprise or change in direction of performance, f''(x) (CES). We develop theory and software to, (A) extract CES, (B) dynamically map trajectories within the ternary space of CES, and (C) measure song stability (i.e. quality) and individuality. We validate that both human music and animal vocalization maintain high stability in the space of CES, with professional musicians being most stable. CES measurement also reflects differences in expert vs. novice singing ability in both humans and canaries as well as constraints during live audience interaction as well. We conclude that quality signaling via this calculus of attention reflects a cognitive focus upon motion in the environment created by selective pressures of intra/interspecific conflicts formed after the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary and still retained in music today.. Lay SummaryMost animals (including humans) pay attention to specific audiovisual stimuli within their environment. Here we explore common features of these stimuli and propose a single mathematical framework (with software) for detecting and measuring the quality of performance regarding attention signaling in the context of sound. We show that musical sounds are exceptionally attractive to our attention and that attention signaling in music probably has ancient evolutionary roots that connect to when early life forms started to evolve swift directed movement and the sensory capacities to detect it.

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Babbitt, G. A., Fokoue, E. P.. 2025-09-28. An ancient evolutionary calculus for attention signaling retained in modern music. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.28.679029

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