Globally, songs and instrumental melodies are slower and higher and use more stable pitches than speech: A Registered Report.

Both music and language are found in all known human societies, yet no studies have compared similarities and differences between song, speech, and instrumental music on a global scale. In this Registered Report, we analyzed two global datasets: (i) 300 annotated audio recordings representing matched sets of traditional songs, recited lyrics, conversational speech, and instrumental melodies from our 75 coauthors speaking 55 languages; and (ii) 418 previously published adult-directed song and speech recordings from 209 individuals speaking 16 languages. Of our six preregistered predictions, five were strongly supported: Relative to speech, songs use (i) higher pitch, (ii) slower temporal rate, and (iii) more stable pitches, while both songs and speech used similar (iv) pitch interval size and (v) timbral brightness. Exploratory analyses suggest that features vary along a "musi-linguistic" continuum when including instrumental melodies and recited lyrics. Our study provides strong empirical evidence of cross-cultural regularities in music and speech.

VisualEars: How an immersive art exhibit impacts mood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper explores the positive impact of viewing a virtual art exhibit on mood during the COVID-19 Pandemic. During global lockdowns, depression, anxiety, and the burden of other mental illnesses have increased even among prior psychiatrically healthy individuals. Art and music-based interventions have shown to be effective clinical interventions in individuals with mental illness. The VisualEars project explored whether a virtual activity involving vision and auditory stimuli could improve positive and negative affect. Eight musical pieces were selected, and 28 visual artists from around the world visualized two musical pieces. A total of 56 works of art were created and hung in eight 3D virtual rooms. Visitors were randomly selected to either view the art exhibit without music (non-immersive) or view the art exhibit while listening to music (immersive). Visitors were asked to complete a positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) in three languages (English, French, and Farsi) pre and post their virtual visit. A total of 160 participants completed baseline PANAS, 58 of which completed the follow-up PANAS. Linear mixed-effects models found that older participants had lower negative affect scores overall (b = -0.3, p = 0.003), while male participants had lower positive affect scores overall (b = -0.27, p = 0.02). Following the virtual exhibit participants of both conditions had higher positive (b = 0.17, p = 0.03), and lower negative affect scores (b = -0.19, p = 0.007). We found that the virtual art exhibit increased positive affect and decreased negative affect in participants, suggesting an overall improvement in mood attributable to the virtual exhibit. This suggests that virtual exhibits may serve as a beneficial and accessible intervention to improve mood during a pandemic.