The role of rhythm in how we perceive — and connect with — the world.
Postal workers in Ghana hand-cancel stamps with the help of rhythm. Video.
In her book, Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, neuroscientist Nina Kraus says that rhythm "connects us to the world. It plays a role in listening, in language, in understanding speech in noisy places, in walking, and even in our feelings toward one another."
"Music and rhythm are rooted in every known culture... (and we all) experience the rhythmic changes of the seasons. Some of us have menstrual cycles. We have circadian rhythms — daily cycles of mental and physical peaks and troughs. Frogs croak rhythmically to attract mates and change their rhythm to signal aggression."
"...The currency of the nervous system — electricity — is nothing if not rhythmic. The better we understand the biological basis of rhythm, the better we will be able to employ rhythm — in all its guises — to improve communication and to better understand ourselves."
Article: The Extraordinary Ways Rhythm Shapes Our Lives