Acoustic resonance at the dawn of life: musical fundamentals of the psychoanalytic relationship

Abstract

This paper uses a case vignette to show how musical elements of speech are a crucial source of information regarding the patient's emotional states and associated memory systems that are activated at a given moment in the analytic field. There are specific psychoacoustic markers associated with different memory systems which indicate whether a patient is immersed in a state of creative intersubjective relatedness related to autobiographical memory, or has been triggered into a traumatic memory system. When a patient feels immersed in an atmosphere of intersubjective mutuality, dialogue features a rhythmical and tuneful form of speech featuring improvized reciprocal imitation, theme and variation. When the patient is catapulted into a traumatic memory system, speech becomes monotone and disjointed. Awareness of such acoustic features of the traumatic memory system helps to alert the analyst that such a shift has taken place informing appropriate responses and interventions. Communicative musicality (Malloch & Trevarthen 2009) originates in the earliest non-verbal vocal communication between infant and care-giver, states of primary intersubjectivity. Such musicality continues to be the primary vehicle for transmitting emotional meaning and for integrating right and left hemispheres. This enables communication that expresses emotional significance, personal value as well as conceptual reasoning.

Fundamental Frequency Variation of Neonatal Spontaneous Crying Predicts Language Acquisition in Preterm and Term Infants

“…Furthermore, the F 0 transposition range was determined to assess F 0 variation within 60 s cry series. Beginning in the neonatal period, infants produce shape-similar cry melodies at different frequency levels for which there are large individual differences in the transposition range, even though the range gradually increases with postnatal age ( Wermke and Mende, 2009 ). Based on these observations, F 0 transposition range was calculated by subtracting the minimum value of F 0 max from the maximum value of F 0 max within cry series ( Figure 1C ).…”

“…In addition, we calculated an MCI number for each infant by averaging the number of arcs within cry utterance. Because some infants exhibit no-arc melodies (i.e., “flat plateau”; Wermke and Mende, 2009 ) or more than double-arc ( Figures 1A,B ) melodies during the neonatal period, the MCI number is assumed to be more sensitive for assessing the ability to produce complex cry melodies compared to the MCI ratio.…”

“…Broadening the perspective, there is a potential relationship between the development of an infant’s cry melody and language acquisition ( Darwin, 1872 ; Lieberman, 1985 ; Wermke and Mende, 2009 ). The evolutionary viewpoint emphasizes that expressive language may originate from the imitation and modification of humans’ instinctive cries by articulate sounds ( Darwin, 1871 ).…”

“…The evolutionary viewpoint emphasizes that expressive language may originate from the imitation and modification of humans’ instinctive cries by articulate sounds ( Darwin, 1871 ). According to this view, an increased melodic variation in infant crying is assumed to provide an essential base for linguistic prosody expressive of various emotions ( Darwin, 1872 ; Jespersen, 1922 ; Wermke and Mende, 2009 ). This assumption is consistent with observations of the high sensitivity to melodic features of adult speech during the fetal ( Kisilevsky et al, 2009 ; Partanen et al, 2013 ; Webb et al, 2015 ) and neonatal ( Kujala et al, 2004 ; Naoi et al, 2013 ) periods.…”

“…In particular, the variability (i.e., height of F 0 variation) and complexity (i.e., amount of melody arcs) of the melodic features were a specific focus. Furthermore, based on the assumption of a potential link between cry melody and language development ( Darwin, 1872 ; Lieberman, 1985 ; Wermke and Mende, 2009 ), the manner in which the analyzed melodic features of spontaneous cries at term contribute to early communication and language development at 18 months of corrected age were examined in preterm and term infants. Especially, it was expected that infants who exhibit more variable and complex cry melodies at term would show better language outcomes at 18 months.…”