Mandarin is music to the ears

The Chinese language baffles most foreigners and scientists have discovered it baffles the brain too.

The brain initially "mistakes" the lexical tone, or pitch of words, as music, and lets its right side dominate the cognitive processing of the tone, according to a latest study by Chinese scientists.

This "mistake" occurs about 200 milliseconds after the sound is picked up by the ear. After that flash moment, the left side of the brain takes over the control for processing the meaning carried by the tone, said the research report published last month by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, a premium US academic journal.