Do rats (Rattus norvegicus) perceive octave equivalence, a critical human cross-cultural aspect of pitch perception?
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- dc.contributor.author Wagner, Bernhard
- dc.contributor.author Toro Soto, Juan Manuel, 1976-
- dc.contributor.author Mayayo, Ferran
- dc.contributor.author Hoeschele, Marisa
- dc.date.accessioned 2025-06-27T07:16:05Z
- dc.date.available 2025-06-27T07:16:05Z
- dc.date.issued 2024
- dc.description.abstract Octave equivalence describes the perception that two notes separated by a doubling in frequency have a similar quality. In humans, octave equivalence is important to both music and language learning and is found cross-culturally. Cross-species studies comparing human and non-human animals can help illuminate the necessary pre-conditions to developing octave equivalence. Here, we tested whether rats (Rattus norvegicus) perceive octave equivalence using a standardized cross-species paradigm. This allowed us to disentangle concurring hypotheses regarding the evolutionary roots of this phenomenon. One hypothesis is that octave equivalence is directly connected to vocal learning, but this hypothesis is only partially supported by data. According to another hypothesis, the harmonic structure of mammalian vocalizations may be more important. If rats perceive octave equivalence, this would support the importance of vocal harmonic structure. If rats do not perceive octave equivalence, this would suggest that octave equivalence evolved independently in several mammalian clades due to a more complex interplay of different factors such as—but not exclusively—the ability to vocally learn. Evidence from our study suggests that rats do perceive octave equivalence, thereby suggesting that the harmonic vocal structure found in mammals may be a key pre-requisite for octave equivalence. Stage 1 approved protocol: the study reported here was originally accepted as a Registered Report and the study design was approved in Stage 1. We hereby confirm that the completed experiment(s) have been executed and analysed in the manner originally approved with any unforeseen changes in those approved methods and analyses clearly noted. The approved Stage 1 protocol can be found at: https://osf.io/gvf7c/?view_only=76dc1840f31c4f9ab59eb93cbadb98b7.
- dc.description.sponsorship The experiments described here were financed with grant PID2021-123973NB-I00 financed by the Spanish Ministerio of Science and Innovation, State Research Agency and European Regional Development Fund.
- dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
- dc.identifier.citation Wagner B, Toro JM, Mayayo F, Hoeschele M. Do rats (Rattus norvegicus) perceive octave equivalence, a critical human cross-cultural aspect of pitch perception? R Soc Open Sci. 2024 May;11(5):221181. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221181
- dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221181
- dc.identifier.issn 2054-5703
- dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70777
- dc.language.iso eng
- dc.publisher Royal Society
- dc.relation.ispartof Royal Society Open Science. 2024 May;11(5):221181
- dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/3PE/PID2021-123973NB-I00
- dc.rights © 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
- dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
- dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- dc.subject.keyword Octave equivalence
- dc.subject.keyword Musicality
- dc.subject.keyword Rats
- dc.subject.keyword Auditory perception
- dc.subject.keyword Music
- dc.title Do rats (Rattus norvegicus) perceive octave equivalence, a critical human cross-cultural aspect of pitch perception?
- dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion