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Published online 23 April 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010426-4
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Chords strike a grammatical note
The brain region that senses sentences also tells music from noise.
The region of the brain that allows us understand whether a sentence makes sense may also help us tell the difference between a symphony and cacophony new research suggests.1
The Broca's area -- a brain region that processes the syntax, or word arrangement in a sentence -- is activated when people hear a musical chord in the wrong place in a traditional progression of chords.
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