Auditory-motor System Research Articles

Can you feel the rhythm? Comparing vibrotactile and auditory stimuli in the rhythm video game Jump‘n'Rhythm

ABSTRACT Rhythm is essential in early music education. To acquire rhythm abilities, the synchronisation between body and rhythm patterns is fundamental. Extensive research has shown the link between the auditory-motor system and rhythm acquisition; however, other sensorimotor systems also improve rhythm skills. Rhythm acquisition can be trained using new technologies, such as video games; however, most of these use mainly auditory stimuli to improve it. Therefore, in this work, we explore tactile stimuli to improve rhythm skills using a video game and how visual elements affect rhythm perception using different stimuli. We evaluate and compare the synchronisation of 27 participants following either vibrotactile or auditory stimuli emitted through a rhythm video game in two difficulty levels and we evaluated the user experience. Consistent with the literature, our results indicate that participants synchronised slightly better using auditory than vibrotactile stimuli and players’ performance was better when they had visual guides. A fatigue effect persisted and increased over playtime in both conditions. In the current study, usability measures indicate no significant differences. These findings suggest that vibrotactile stimuli are also suitable to train rhythm skills in a video game environment and the game-elements play an important role in players' performance.

How Do You Feel the Rhythm: Dynamic Motor-Auditory Interactions Are Involved in the Imagination of Hierarchical Timing.

Predicting and organizing patterns of events is important for humans to survive in a dynamically changing world. The motor system has been proposed to be actively, and necessarily, engaged in not only the production but the perception of rhythm by organizing hierarchical timing that influences auditory responses. It is not yet well understood how the motor system interacts with the auditory system to perceive and maintain hierarchical structure in time. This study investigated the dynamic interaction between auditory and motor functional sources during the perception and imagination of musical meters. We pursued this using a novel method combining high-density EEG, EMG, and motion capture with independent component analysis to separate motor and auditory activity during meter imagery while robustly controlling against covert movement. We demonstrated that endogenous brain activity in both auditory and motor functional sources reflects the imagination of binary and ternary meters in the absence of corresponding acoustic cues or overt movement at the meter rate. We found clear evidence for hypothesized motor-to-auditory information flow at the beat rate in all conditions, suggesting a role for top-down influence of the motor system on auditory processing of beat-based rhythms, and reflecting an auditory-motor system with tight reciprocal informational coupling. These findings align with and further extend a set of motor hypotheses from beat perception to hierarchical meter imagination, adding supporting evidence to active engagement of the motor system in auditory processing, which may more broadly speak to the neural mechanisms of temporal processing in other human cognitive functions.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans live in a world full of hierarchically structured temporal information, the accurate perception of which is essential for understanding speech and music. Music provides a window into the brain mechanisms of time perception, enabling us to examine how the brain groups musical beats into, for example a march or waltz. Using a novel paradigm combining measurement of electrical brain activity with data-driven analysis, this study directly investigates motor-auditory connectivity during meter imagination. Findings highlight the importance of the motor system in the active imagination of meter. This study sheds new light on a fundamental form of perception by demonstrating how auditory-motor interaction may support hierarchical timing processing, which may have clinical implications for speech and motor rehabilitation.

Infant Movement Response to Auditory Rhythm.

Rhythmic entrainment occurs when an auditory rhythm drives an internal movement oscillator, thus providing a continuous time reference that improves temporal and spatial movement parameters. Entrainment processes and outcomes are well known for adults, but research is lacking for infants who might benefit from diagnosis and treatment of irregular rhythms within biological, sensorimotor, cognitive, and social domains. The present study used a combination of inertial measurement units and custom-made software to determine the amount, tempo, and regularity of movement in 28 infants aged 6-10 months while they were exposed to silence, an irregular rhythmic cue, or a regular rhythmic cue with tempo changes. We also assessed changes in the infants' movement parameters following a one-week rhythm training protocol. While results revealed no significant effect of auditory condition on amount or tempo of movement, infant movement was significantly more regular when infants were exposed to 120 bpm (beats per minute) than to an irregular rhythmic cue or a 10% faster rhythmic cue (132 bpm). Infants showed no notable changes in movement amount, tempo, or regularity following one week of training involving auditory and physical rhythm. Overall, infants seem to engage in spontaneous movements with or without auditory rhythm but may not show tempo sensitivity through their movements. Increased movement regularity suggests that 120 bpm may be a preferred tempo for infants, at which they are more likely to demonstrate well-timed movements that may reflect interval entrainment. Infants' auditory-motor systems appear not to respond to a 1-week rhythm training protocol.

Musical Instrument Practice Predicts White Matter Microstructure and Cognitive Abilities in Childhood.

Musical training has been associated with advantages in cognitive measures of IQ and verbal ability, as well as neural measures including white matter microstructural properties in the corpus callosum (CC) and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). We hypothesized that children who have musical training will have different microstructural properties in the SLF and CC. One hundred children aged 7.9–9.9 years (mean age 8.7) were surveyed for their musical activities, completed neuropsychological testing for general cognitive abilities, and underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as part of a larger study. Children who play a musical instrument for more than 0.5 h per week (n = 34) had higher scores on verbal ability and intellectual ability (standardized scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities), as well as higher axial diffusivity (AD) in the left SLF than those who did not play a musical instrument (n = 66). Furthermore, the intensity of musical practice, quantified as the number of hours of music practice per week, was correlated with axial diffusivity (AD) in the left SLF. Results are not explained by age, sex, socio-economic status, or physical fitness of the participants. The results suggest that the relationship between musical practice and intellectual ability is related to the maturation of white matter pathways in the auditory-motor system. The findings suggest that musical training may be a means of improving cognitive and brain health during development.

Reverse Engineering Tone-Deafness: Disrupting Pitch-Matching by Creating Temporary Dysfunctions in the Auditory-Motor Network

Perceiving and producing vocal sounds are important functions of the auditory-motor system and are fundamental to communication. Prior studies have identified a network of brain regions involved in pitch production, specifically pitch matching. Here we reverse engineer the function of the auditory perception-production network by targeting specific cortical regions (e.g., right and left posterior superior temporal (pSTG) and posterior inferior frontal gyri (pIFG)) with cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)—commonly found to decrease excitability in the underlying cortical region—allowing us to causally test the role of particular nodes in this network. Performance on a pitch-matching task was determined before and after 20 min of cathodal stimulation. Acoustic analyses of pitch productions showed impaired accuracy after cathodal stimulation to the left pIFG and the right pSTG in comparison to sham stimulation. Both regions share particular roles in the feedback and feedforward motor control of pitched vocal production with a differential hemispheric dominance.

Melodic Priming of Motor Sequence Performance: The Role of the Dorsal Premotor Cortex.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to specific auditory sequences leads to the induction of new motor memories and to investigate the role of the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) in this crossmodal learning process. Fifty-two young healthy non-musicians were familiarized with the sound to key-press mapping on a computer keyboard and tested on their baseline motor performance. Each participant received subsequently either continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) or sham stimulation over the dPMC and was then asked to remember a 12-note melody without moving. For half of the participants, the contour of the melody memorized was congruent to a subsequently performed, but never practiced, finger movement sequence (Congruent group). For the other half, the melody memorized was incongruent to the subsequent finger movement sequence (Incongruent group). Hearing a congruent melody led to significantly faster performance of a motor sequence immediately thereafter compared to hearing an incongruent melody. In addition, cTBS speeded up motor performance in both groups, possibly by relieving motor consolidation from interference by the declarative melody memorization task. Our findings substantiate recent evidence that exposure to a movement-related tone sequence can induce specific, crossmodal encoding of a movement sequence representation. They further suggest that cTBS over the dPMC may enhance early offline procedural motor skill consolidation in cognitive states where motor consolidation would normally be disturbed by concurrent declarative memory processes. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of auditory-motor system interactions and have implications for the development of new motor rehabilitation approaches using sound and non-invasive brain stimulation as neuromodulatory tools.

Music therapy and cognitive rehabilitation: Screening of music cognition in adult patients with right hemisphere stroke.

Camila F. Pfeiffer and Liliana R. SabeNeurologic Rehabilitation Center FLENI Escobar, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaCamila F. Pfeiffer and Liliana R. Sabe, Music Therapy Department and Department for Cognitive Neurology, Neuropsychology and Neuropsychiatry, Neurologic Rehabilitation Center FLENI, Escobar City, Argentina.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Camila F. Pfeiffer, Fundacion para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurologicas de la Infancia - Music Therapy, Ruta 9, KM53, Escobar, Argentina. E-mail: cpfeiffer@fleni.org.arCognitive disorders are common consequence of stroke. Impairments of orientation, attention, concentration, velocity of information processing, memory, spatial perception, executive functions, and psychosocial behavior have important functional consequences for stroke survivors. As such, a negative impact on learning processes and rehabilitation outcomes is common, independent of the effect of physical impairment (Barker-Collo, Feigin, Lawes, Parag, & Senior, 2010; Hackett, Yapa, Parag, & Anderson, 2005; Patel, Coshall, Rudd, & Wolfe, 2003; Tatemichi et al., 1994). Thus, everyday functioning can be severely limited and compromise personal safety and independency (Lees, Fearon, Harrison, Broomfield, & Quinn, 2012). Cognitive disorders can negatively affect the usefulness and generalization of rehabilitation strategies, which are necessary to achieve the best possible level of independence and enable reintegration into society and work life-the main goal of rehabilitation.In rehabilitation settings, music therapy has been used to address the functional recovery of patients who suffer from neurologic conditions. Music therapy is an evidence-based practice carried out by a qualified music therapist, commonly functioning as part of a multidisciplinary team. It can be offered in individual, group, and interdisciplinary settings. Music therapists commonly work with patients with hemiparesia, aphasia, neglect, amnesia and attention disorders, breathing and voice disorders, consciousness disorders, balance, gait and fine motor skill disorders, and affective or behavioral disorders, among others. In the past, many music therapists have specialized in neurologic music therapy (NMT), a systematic and researched-based treatment method developed to improve cognitive, communication, and sensorimotor disorders through music. Neurologic music therapists are trained to assess patients' individual needs and to select or design goal-directed interventions to stimulate and recover brain functions involved in movement, cognition, speech, sensory perceptions, emotions, and social behavior. NMT techniques are grounded on a neurobiologic understanding of how music affects the human nervous system and are designed to address specific symptoms caused by neurologic diseases.For example, singing, vocal, and breathing exercises are applied to treat respiration, voice, and speech impairments such as decreased loudness, short phonation time, or a monotonous voice, commonly caused by Parkinson disease, stroke, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, congenital disorders such as a cleft palate or abnormalities of the vocal apparatus (Baker, Wigram, & Gold, 2005; Haneishi, 2001; Tamplin & Grocke, 2008). Melodic intonation therapy has been proven to be effective in aiding recovery of language production of patients with nonfluent aphasia (Norton, Zipse, Marchina, & Schlaug, 2009; Tomaino, 2012). Rhythm takes a predominant role in motor rehabilitation due to its impact on the auditory-motor system. In speech fluency disorders such as stuttering or dysarthria, pulsed signals or rhythmic patterns can acoustically cue speech production and enhance speech rate control. Here, recovering temporal characteristics of speech such as fluency, articulatory rate, and intelligibility is the main therapeutic goal (Mainka & Mallien, 2014; Van Nuffelen, De Bodt, Vanderwegen, Van de Heyning, & Wuyts, 2010). …

Fetal facial expression in response to intravaginal music emission.

This study compared fetal response to musical stimuli applied intravaginally (intravaginal music [IVM]) with application via emitters placed on the mother’s abdomen (abdominal music [ABM]). Responses were quantified by recording facial movements identified on 3D/4D ultrasound. One hundred and six normal pregnancies between 14 and 39 weeks of gestation were randomized to 3D/4D ultrasound with: (a) ABM with standard headphones (flute monody at 98.6 dB); (b) IVM with a specially designed device emitting the same monody at 53.7 dB; or (c) intravaginal vibration (IVV; 125 Hz) at 68 dB with the same device. Facial movements were quantified at baseline, during stimulation, and for 5 minutes after stimulation was discontinued. In fetuses at a gestational age of >16 weeks, IVM-elicited mouthing (MT) and tongue expulsion (TE) in 86.7% and 46.6% of fetuses, respectively, with significant differences when compared with ABM and IVV (p = 0.002 and p = 0.004, respectively). There were no changes from baseline in ABM and IVV. TE occurred ≥5 times in 5 minutes in 13.3% with IVM. IVM was related with higher occurrence of MT (odds ratio = 10.980; 95% confidence interval = 3.105–47.546) and TE (odds ratio = 10.943; 95% confidence interval = 2.568–77.037). The frequency of TE with IVM increased significantly with gestational age (p = 0.024). Fetuses at 16–39 weeks of gestation respond to intravaginally emitted music with repetitive MT and TE movements not observed with ABM or IVV. Our findings suggest that neural pathways participating in the auditory–motor system are developed as early as gestational week 16. These findings might contribute to diagnostic methods for prenatal hearing screening, and research into fetal neurological stimulation.

Event-related spectral perturbation induced by action-related sound

It is now well established that human brain is endowed with an auditory-motor system which may depend on individual's motor experience. Here we designed an electroencephalography (EEG) experiment for investigating this dependency. A sound with not-so-obvious meaning was presented to subjects firstly. Then a visual exposure process was carried out to establish an association between the sound and action. By analyzing event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in the mu rhythm, we expected to find response differences in the motor cortex between the pre- and post-exposure periods. Results of 14 subjects indicated that the activation of motor cortex was stronger in the post-exposure phase. Our study suggests that the auditory-motor association can be established rapidly by a simple exposure process.

Phonatory and nonphonatory motor control in singers

<h2>Summary</h2> Previous investigations of singers' ability to match tones accurately and rapidly have implied that this group of performers may be specially endowed with auditory-motor systems that predispose him or her to aspire as a singer. The purpose of this study was to measure the performance of singers on an auditory-motor task and to compare it with performance on a visuomotor task. Singers and nonsingers matched randomly presented auditory pure tones between the 30 and 60% points of their phonational ranges. In addition, the subjects pursued a visually presented static stimulus by rotating their wrist. The results indicate that the singers were more stable once they reached the target on the auditory-motor task. Singers were also less variable on the auditory-motor task compared with nonsingers. The two groups were not different from each other on the visuomotor task. The data also revealed that singers achieve pitch targets more efficiently than do nonsingers but the two groups achieve wrist targets with comparable efficiency. The data suggest that singers do not have uniformly endowed sensorimotor systems; however, they are capable of performing with greater motor stability, consistency, and efficiency using laryngeal/phonatory motor subsystems than with manual (wrist flexion) subsystems.