Sensorimotor synchronization with rhythms is influenced by stimulus properties and individual differences
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Authors
Whitton, Simon Andrew
Issue Date
2023
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
auditory imagery , EEG , neural entrainment , perception-action coupling , rhythm perception , sensorimotor synchronization
Alternative Title
Abstract
Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) refers to the temporal coordination of an external stimulus with motor movement. Dancing to music, playing sports, or verbally communicating fundamentally depends on synchronizing one’s actions with rhythmic sensory stimuli. The current project aims to better establish the stimulus- and participant-specific factors that influence SMS. We first examined how the modality and rhythmic deviation of a stimulus, along with the synchronizer’s level of musicality, impacted SMS. Utilizing a finger-tapping task and three sensory modalities (visual, auditory, and tactile), we manipulated rhythmic deviation by varying the temporal position, intensity, and availability of cues across four deviation levels. Additionally, we administered the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) questionnaire to determine our participants' musical familiarity and aptitude. While we found that SMS to external rhythmic stimuli was significantly more precise for auditory and tactile than for visual sequences, participants could still synchronize well with visual flashes. Further, we found SMS consistency significantly decreased in all modalities with increased rhythmic deviation, suggesting that rhythmic deviation directly relates to SMS difficulty. A significant correlation between Gold-MSI scores and SMS consistency in the most rhythmically deviant level suggests that rhythmic synchronization performance is also affected by the musical general sophistication of the synchronizer. Combined, our results suggested that SMS is influenced by stimulus- and participant-specific differences irrespective of stimulus modality. Subsequently, we examined how participants’ imagery and perceptual abilities affect visual SMS performance using a synchronization-continuation finger-tapping task with a visual stimulus. We quantified participants’ SMS consistency in both synchronization (with visual cues) and continuation (without visual cues) phases. Participants also completed the Gold-MSI and imagery questionnaires and performed a rhythm perception task assessing their ability to detect temporal perturbations in the visual rhythm. We found significant effects of trial phase and auditory imagery on SMS consistency, suggesting that participants performed SMS more consistently while the guiding visual stimulus was present and that the higher one’s auditory imagery ability, the better their SMS while continuing with unguided rhythm. In addition, one’s rhythm perception accuracy significantly correlated with SMS consistency during the synchronization phase, and we found no correlation between rhythm perception and auditory imagery control. In our final study we further examined the contribution of imagery to SMS performance by testing proficient imagers and including auditory or visual distractors during the continuation phase. While visual distractors had minimal effect, SMS consistency was significantly worse when auditory distractors were presented. Electroencephalography (EEG) analysis revealed stronger neural entrainment at the beat-related frequency with visual or auditory distractors than without distractors. Neural entrainment to the beat frequency positively correlated with SMS consistency in the presence of visual distractors, suggesting the potential utilization of auditory imagery and its role in supporting SMS performance. During continuation with auditory distractors, the neural entrainment showed an occipital electrode distribution suggesting the involvement of visual imagery. Unique to SMS continuation with auditory distractors, neural and sub-vocal (measured with electromyography) entrainment were found at the three-beat pattern frequency. In this most difficult condition, proficient imagers employed both beat- and pattern-related imagery strategies. However, this combination was not enough to restore SMS consistency to the same level observed with visual or no distractors. Our results suggest that proficient imagers effectively utilized beat-related imagery in one modality when imagery in another modality was limited. Taken together, findings from this dissertation project highlight important factors that influence SMS, providing insight into the development of SMS- and imagery-related training methods and interventions.
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License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States