Processing of hierarchical syntactic strusture in music

Hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is a key feature of human language and can be identified theoretically in most pieces of tonal music. However, previous studies have argued against the perception of such structures in music. Here, we show processing of nonlocal dependencies in music. We presented chorales by J. S. Bach and modified versions inwhich the hierarchical structure was rendered irregular whereas the local structure was kept intact. Brain electric responses differed between regular and irregular hierarchical structures, in both musicians and nonmusicians. This finding indicates that, when listening to music, humans apply cognitive processes that are capable of dealing with longdistance dependencies resulting from hierarchically organized syntactic structures. Our results reveal that a brain mechanism fundamental for syntactic processing is engaged during the perception of music, indicating that processing of hierarchical structure with nested nonlocal dependencies is not just a key component of human language, but a multidomain capacity of human cognition.

Identidade, memória e narrativas na dança de São Gonçalo do povoado Mussuca (SE)

This study deals with the participation of the dance of São Gonçalo of the Mussuca town/SE, in the process of construction of the ethnic identity among this social group. The Mussuca is a grouping recognized as afro-descendents, linked with black enslaved people in the valley of the Cotinguiba region. The collective memory functions as a drive of this linking with the past and if it makes to elaborate narratives on this descent. The objective of this study was to investigate the ways the rite went through to constitute itself as an element of ethnic representation. Internal and external agents had been identified who had participated in different contexts. By means of an ethnographic work we ve reached some aspects of the local structure social which demonstrated the contradictions through the social relations of the group. This process of ethnic autorecognition presents the kinship and the space question as definers of the social arrangements which establish its ethnic boundaries