Abstract
Rhythms are an essential characteristic of our lives, and auditory-motor coupling affects a variety of behaviors. Previous research has shown that the neural regions associated with motor system processing are coupled to perceptual rhythmic and melodic processing such that the perception of rhythmic stimuli can entrain motor system responses. However, the degree to which individual preference modulates the motor system is unknown. Recent work has shown that passively listening to metrically strong rhythms increases corticospinal excitability, as indicated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Furthermore, this effect is modulated by high-groove music, or music that inspires movement, while neuroimaging evidence suggests that premotor activity increases with tempos occurring within a preferred tempo (PT) category. PT refers to the rate of a hypothetical endogenous oscillator that may be indicated by spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) and preferred perceptual tempo (PPT) measurements. The present study investigated whether listening to a rhythm at an individual’s PT preferentially modulates motor system excitability. SMT was obtained in human participants through a tapping task in which subjects were asked to tap a response key at their most comfortable rate. Subjects listened a 10-beat tone sequence at 11 log-spaced tempos and rated their preference for each (PPT). We found that SMT and PPT measurements were correlated, indicating that preferred and produced tempos occurred at a similar rate. Crucially, single-pulse TMS delivered to left M1 during PPT judgments revealed that corticospinal excitability, measured by motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), was modulated by tempos traveling closer to individual PT. However, the specific nature of this modulation differed across individuals, with some exhibiting an increase in excitability around PT and others exhibiting a decrease. These findings suggest that auditory-motor coupling induced by rhythms is preferentially modulated by rhythms occurring at a preferred rate, and that individual differences can alter the nature of this coupling.
Highlights
Rhythm and time play an essential role in many of the behaviors we engage in every day
preferred tempo (PT) refers to the rate of a hypothetical endogenous oscillator that may be indicated by spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) and preferred perceptual tempo (PPT) measurements
We calculated the coefficient of variation in EMG amplitude at each tempo; notably we found no relationship between SMT, PPT, or EMG peak tempos and the EMG coefficient of variation (KleinFlügge et al, 2013)
Summary
Rhythm and time play an essential role in many of the behaviors we engage in every day This is especially apparent in behaviors that require coordination between movements and auditory stimuli, such as playing an instrument, dancing, or talking in turn during conversation (McAuley et al, 2006; Zatorre et al, 2007). The degree to which individual preferences influence audiomotor linkages remains relatively unexplored Recent results from both functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies identify metrical saliency, or the strength of the underlying beat, as driving increases in neural activation and excitability in motor areas (Zatorre et al, 2007; Cameron et al, 2012), and additional fMRI evidence demonstrates that increases in ventral premotor cortex activation are associated with individual preference for slow vs fast tempos (Kornysheva et al, 2010). In order to further our understanding of how the motor system responds to individual differences in the perception and preference of rhythmic auditory stimuli, the present study examined changes in motor system excitability while subjects listened to an individually preferred tempo (PT)
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