Cardiac Dynamics in Auditory-Motor Synchronization: Roles of Short-Term Training and Rhythm Complexity

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous findings suggest that long-term musical training and rhythm complexity may affect performers’ auditory-motor synchrony and their cardiac rhythms. We investigated the effects of short-term training and rhythm complexity on auditory-motor synchronization and cardiac activity as individuals synchronized with auditory rhythms. Forty-two adult participants synchronized their taps with sounded rhythms to form a 2:3 duration ratio (stimulus duration:tap duration) or a 3:2 duration ratio (tap rate held constant across rhythms). Participants received short training with one rhythm and received longer training with the other rhythm. Then, participants completed five experimental trials in which they synchronized their sounded taps with the stimulus rhythm. Cardiac activity was recorded during synchronization. Tapping synchronization was less accurate and more variable for the 3:2 rhythm than the 2:3 rhythm. Linear measures of cardiac activity showed less high-frequency variability during the 3:2 rhythm than the 2:3 rhythm. Behavioral-cardiac correspondences emerged with training: Poorer synchronization was associated with more variable cardiac activity after long training, but not after short training. Finally, there were consistent individual differences in cardiac recurrence and predictability across training conditions. These findings demonstrate both short-term learning effects and rhythm complexity effects on cardiac dynamics during auditory-motor synchronization.