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Abstract
BackgroundPerformance of externally paced rhythmic movements requires brain and behavioral integration of sensory stimuli with motor commands. The underlying brain mechanisms to elaborate beat-synchronized rhythm and polyrhythms that musicians readily perform may differ. Given known roles in perceiving time and repetitive movements, we hypothesized that basal ganglia and cerebellar structures would have greater activation for polyrhythms than for on-the-beat rhythms.Methodology/Principal FindingsUsing functional MRI methods, we investigated brain networks for performing rhythmic movements paced by auditory cues. Musically trained participants performed rhythmic movements at 2 and 3 Hz either at a 1∶1 on-the-beat or with a 3∶2 or a 2∶3 stimulus-movement structure. Due to their prior musical experience, participants performed the 3∶2 or 2∶3 rhythmic movements automatically. Both the isorhythmic 1∶1 and the polyrhythmic 3∶2 or 2∶3 movements yielded the expected activation in contralateral primary motor cortex and related motor areas and ipsilateral cerebellum. Direct comparison of functional MRI signals obtained during 3∶2 or 2∶3 and on-the-beat rhythms indicated activation differences bilaterally in the supplementary motor area, ipsilaterally in the supramarginal gyrus and caudate-putamen and contralaterally in the cerebellum.Conclusions/SignificanceThe activated brain areas suggest the existence of an interconnected brain network specific for complex sensory-motor rhythmic integration that might have specificity for elaboration of musical abilities.
Highlights
Considerable evidence suggests that the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and neocortex contribute to temporal encoding and perception related to movement production [1,2,3,4], though each region’s role requires additional elucidation
Converging evidence shows that pulse-salient models underlie rhythm formation; these models require synchronization of rhythmic events into felt pulse patterns [16], [17]; these patterns refer to the presence of a temporally spaced sequence of auditory events that serve as perceptual reference points to hear sound durations and patterns [18]
Rhythm production primarily activates the primary motor (M1), primary somatic sensory (S1), and premotor (PMA) cortices, supplementary motor area (SMA), and lateral cerebellar hemisphere, perhaps for controlling motor timing needed for rhythm elaboration (e.g., [27,28,29,30,31])
Summary
Considerable evidence suggests that the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and neocortex contribute to temporal encoding and perception related to movement production [1,2,3,4], though each region’s role requires additional elucidation. Studying rhythmic movements synchronized to sensory stimuli has proven useful in uncovering behavioral and neural aspects of action timing [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. The connection between behavioral aspects of pulse-salient models of rhythm formation and their neural implementation requires further elaboration to enable greater understanding of brain representations for rhythmic manual performance required for common everyday actions and for specialized tasks, such as performing with musical instruments. Performance of externally paced rhythmic movements requires brain and behavioral integration of sensory stimuli with motor commands. Given known roles in perceiving time and repetitive movements, we hypothesized that basal ganglia and cerebellar structures would have greater activation for polyrhythms than for on-thebeat rhythms
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