When the rhythm disappears and the mind keeps dancing: sustained effects of attentional entrainment

Sustained Effect of Auditory Entrainment With Coordinated Movement Varies With Temporal Complexity of Sequential Tapping

While the ability to coordinate movements temporally with rhythmic auditory stimuli is universal, previous investigators showed that accurate rhythm reproduction depends on temporal complexity. To date, the effect of multiple pitches on the timing of rhythmic movements has been assumed. Exploring a possible sustained entrainment effect of auditory stimuli on sequential movement might further elucidate the role of temporal complexity and its interaction with multiple pitch engagement. Thus, we investigated the sustained effect of auditory entrainment and the interaction between temporal complexity and pitch on predefined sequential tapping with tapping sequences predefined before a synchronization-timekeeping task. Temporal complexity was manipulated by increasing the number of non-integer ratios in temporal rhythm. The rhythm sequences were presented with either multiple pitches or a single pitch. We found a reduction in mean asynchronies and ratio error in three rhythms with non-integer ratios, while inter-response interval error was reduced in the integer rhythm and the rhythm with one repetitive integer ratio and one non-integer ratio. Ratio error remanence was less in rhythms with two non-integer ratios. We found no significant difference between the two pitch types. There was a sustained entrainment effect of sequential tapping that varied with differing temporal complexity, and pitch information was not essential for auditory entrainment. These findings provide support for possible interventions aimed at motor learning.

Benefits of dance for Parkinson's: The music, the moves, and the company

Dance classes designed for people with Parkinson's are very popular and associated not only with increasing individuals' motor control abilities but also their mood; not least by providing a social network and the enjoyment of the music. However, quantitative evidence of the benefits is inconsistent and often lacks in power. For a better understanding of the contradictory findings between participants' felt experiences and existing quantitative findings in response to dance classes, we employed a mixed method approach that focussed on the effects of music. Participant experience of the dance class was explored by means of semi-structured interviews and gait changes were measured in a within-subjects design through the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test before and after class, with and without music. We chose the TUG test for its ecological validity, as it is a simple test that resembles movements done in class. We hypothesised that the music and the dance class would have a facilitating effect on the TUG performance. In line with existing research, we found that before class, the gait of 26 participants was significantly improved when accompanied by a soundtrack. However, after class, music did not have a significantly facilitating effect, yet gait without music significantly improved after class compared to before. We suggest that whilst the music acts as an external stimulator for movement before the dance class, after the dance class, participants have an internalised music or rhythm that supports their motor control. Thus, externally played music is of less relevance. The importance of music was further emphasised in the qualitative data alongside social themes. A better understanding of how music and dance affects Parkinson's symptoms and what aspects make individuals 'feel better' will help in the design of future interventions.

How to orchestrate a soccer team: Generalized synchronization promoted by rhythmic acoustic stimuli

Interpersonal coordination requires precise actions concerted in space and time in a self-organized manner. We found, using soccer teams as a testing ground, that a common timeframe provided by adequate acoustic stimuli improves the interplay between teammates. We provide quantitative evidence that the connectivity between teammates and the scoring rate of male soccer teams improve significantly when playing under the influence of an appropriate acoustic environment. Unexpectedly, female teams do not show any improvement under the same experimental conditions. We show by follow-up experiments that the acoustic rhythm modulates the attention level of the participants with a pronounced tempo preference and a marked gender difference in the preferred tempo. These results lead to a consistent explanation in terms of the dynamical system theory, nonlinear resonances, and dynamic attention theory, which may illuminate generic mechanisms of the brain dynamics and may have an impact on the design of novel training strategies in team sports.

Temporal Predictions in Space: Isochronous Rhythms Promote Forward Projections of the Body

A regular rhythmic stimulation increases people's ability to anticipate future events in time and to move their body in space. Temporal concepts are usually prescribed to spatial locations through a past-behind and future-ahead mapping. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a regular rhythmic stimulation could promote the forward-body (i.e., toward the future) projections in the peri-personal space. In a Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task (VAAST), participants (N = 24) observed a visual scene on the screen (i.e., a music studio with a metronome in the middle). They were exposed to 3 s of auditory isochronous or non-isochronous rhythms, after which they were asked to make as quickly as possible a perceptual judgment on the visual scene (i.e., whether the metronome pendulum was pointing to the right or left). The responses could trigger a forward or backward visual flow, i.e., approaching or moving them away from the scene. Results showed a significant interaction between the rhythmic stimulation and the movement projections (p < 0.001): participants were faster for responses triggering forward-body projections (but not backward-body projections) after the exposure to isochronous (but not non-isochronous) rhythm. By highlighting the strong link between isochronous rhythms and forward-body projections, these findings support the idea that temporal predictions driven by a regular auditory stimulation are grounded in a perception-action system integrating temporal and spatial information.

Neural synchrony in mother-child conversation: Exploring the role of conversation patterns

Conversations are an essential form of communication in daily family life. Specific patterns of caregiver–child conversations have been linked to children’s socio-cognitive development and child-relationship quality beyond the immediate family environment. Recently, interpersonal neural synchronization has been proposed as a neural mechanism supporting conversation. Here, we present a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning study looking at the temporal dynamics of neural synchrony during mother–child conversation. Preschoolers (20 boys and 20 girls, M age 5;07 years) and their mothers (M age 36.37 years) were tested simultaneously with fNIRS hyperscanning while engaging in a free verbal conversation lasting for 4 min. Neural synchrony (using wavelet transform coherence analysis) was assessed over time. Furthermore, each conversational turn was coded for conversation patterns comprising turn-taking, relevance, contingency and intrusiveness. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that turn-taking, but not relevance, contingency or intrusiveness predicted neural synchronization during the conversation over time. Results are discussed to point out possible variables affecting parent–child conversation quality and the potential functional role of interpersonal neural synchronization for parent–child conversation.

What you hear first, is what you get: Initial metrical cue presentation modulates syllable detection in sentence processing

Auditory rhythms create powerful expectations for the listener. Rhythmic cues with the same temporal structure as subsequent sentences enhance processing compared with irregular or mismatched cues. In the present study, we focus on syllable detection following matched rhythmic cues. Cues were aligned with subsequent sentences at the syllable (low-level cue) or the accented syllable (high-level cue) level. A different group of participants performed the task without cues to provide a baseline. We hypothesized that unaccented syllable detection would be faster after low-level cues, and accented syllable detection would be faster after high-level cues. There was no difference in syllable detection depending on whether the sentence was preceded by a high-level or low-level cue. However, the results revealed a priming effect of the cue that participants heard first. Participants who heard a high-level cue first were faster to detect accented than unaccented syllables, and faster to detect accented syllables than participants who heard a low-level cue first. The low-level-first participants showed no difference between detection of accented and unaccented syllables. The baseline experiment confirmed that hearing a low-level cue first removed the benefit of the high-level grouping structure for accented syllables. These results suggest that the initially perceived rhythmic structure influenced subsequent cue perception and its influence on syllable detection. Results are discussed in terms of dynamic attending, temporal context effects, and implications for context effects in neural entrainment.