Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Music and speech distractors disrupt sensorimotor synchronization: effects of musical training

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Humans display a natural tendency to move to the beat of music, more than to the rhythm of any other auditory stimulus. We typically move with music, but rarely with speech. This proclivity is apparent early during development and can be further developed over the years via joint dancing, singing, or instrument playing. Synchronization of movement to the beat can thus improve with age, but also with musical experience. In a previous study, we found that music perturbed synchronization with a metronome more than speech fragments; music superiority disappeared when distractors shared isochrony and the same meter (Dalla Bella et al., PLoS One 8(8):e71945, 2013). Here, we examined if the interfering effect of music and speech distractors in a synchronization task is influenced by musical training. Musicians and non-musicians synchronized by producing finger force pulses to the sounds of a metronome while music and speech distractors were presented at one of various phase relationships with respect to the target. Distractors were familiar musical excerpts and fragments of children poetry comparable in terms of beat/stress isochrony. Music perturbed synchronization with the metronome more than speech did in both groups. However, the difference in synchronization error between music and speech distractors was smaller for musicians than for non-musicians, especially when the peak force of movement is reached. These findings point to a link between musical training and timing of sensorimotor synchronization when reacting to music and speech distractors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Both the speech and music materials were highly controlled for familiarity. This was assessed for both the musical excerpts and speech fragments in a pilot experiment (see Dalla Bella et al. 2013). Thirty-two participants (13 musicians and 19 non-musicians; 28 females, mean age = 20.6 years, range 20–28 years) rated the distractors on a 10-point scale (1 = not familiar; 10 = very familiar). Note that the 13 musicians who participated in the pilot experiment also took part in the main experiment. Music and speech distractors did not differ in terms of familiarity (for music, mean rating = 6.7; for speech, mean rating = 7.0; t < 1). Moreover, ratings from musicians and non-musicians for music familiarity did not differ (for musicians, mean rating = 7.2; for non-musicians, mean rating = 6.4; t < 1).

  2. 1.5 Newton correspond to 300 μV, which is the force intensity typically needed to obtain a response using the computer keyboard or a response pad. One Newton is equivalent to the force needed to give a mass of 1 kg an acceleration of 1 m/s2.

References

  • Abercrombie D (1967) Elements of general phonetics. Aldine, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvaniti E (2009) Rhythm, timing and the timing of rhythm. Phonetica 66:46–63

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Besson M, Chobert J, Marie C (2011) Transfer of training between music and speech: common processing, attention, and memory. Front Psychol 2:94

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Białuńska A, Dalla Bella S, Jaśkowski P (2011) Increasing stimulus intensity does not affect sensorimotor synchronization. Psychol Res 75(1):43–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bigand E (1997) Perceiving musical stability: the effect of tonal structure, rhythm, and musical expertise. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 23:808–822

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bigand E (2003) More about the musical expertise of musically untrained listeners. Ann N Y Acad Sci 999:304–312

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bigand E, Parncutt R (1999) Perceiving musical tension in long chord sequences. Psychol Res 62:237–254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolger D, Coull JT, Schön D (2014) Metrical rhythm implicitly orients attention in time as indexed by improved target detection and left inferior parietal activation. J Cognitive Neurosci 26(3):593–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brzechwa J (1980) Brzechwa dzieciom. Warszawa, Nasza Księgarnia

    Google Scholar 

  • Colonius H, Diederich A (2010) The optimal time window of visual-auditory integration: a reaction time analysis. Front Integr Neurosci 4:11–12

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins F (2009) Rhythm as an affordance for the entrainment of movement. Phonetica 66:15–28

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalla Bella S, Białuńska A, Sowiński J (2013) Why movement is captured by music, but less by speech: role of temporal regularity. PLoS One 8(8):e71945

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dauer RM (1983) Stress-timing and syllable-timing reanalyzed. J Phon 11:51–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnet S, Bartolo R, Fernandes JM, Cunha JP, Prado L, Merchant H (2014) Monkeys time their pauses of movement and not their movement-kinematics during a synchronization-continuation rhythmic task. J Neurophysiol 111:2138–2149

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drake C, Bertrand D (2001) The quest for universals in temporal processes in music. Ann N Y Acad Sci 930:17–27

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drake C, Jones MR, Baruch C (2000) The development of rhythmic attending in auditory sequences: attunement, reference period, focal attending. Cognition 77:251–288

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang A-G, Buchner A (2007) G*Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res 39:175–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flaugnacco E, Lopez L, Terribili C, Montico M, Zoia S, Schön D (2015) Music training increases phonological awareness and reading skills in developmental dyslexia: a randomized control trial. PLoS One 10(9):e0138715

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fujioka T, Trainor LJ, Large EW, Ross B (2012) Internalized timing of isochronous sounds is represented in neuromagnetic beta oscillations. J Neurosci 32:1791–1802

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hallam S, Creech A, Varvarigou M, McQueen H, Gaunt H (2014) Does active engagement in community music promote enhanced quality of life in older people? Art Health 6(2):101–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hove MJ, Fairhurst MT, Kotz SA, Keller PE (2013) Synchronizing with auditory and visual rhythms: an fMRI assessment of modality differences and modality appropriateness. Neuroimage 67:313–321

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaśkowski P, Włodarczyk D (2006) Task modulation of the effect of brightness on reaction time and response force. Int J Psychophysiol 61:98–112

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR (2009) Musical time. In: Hallam S, Cross I, Thaut M (eds) The Oxford handbook of music psychology. Oxford University, Oxford, pp 81–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR (2010) Attending to sound patterns and the role of entrainment. In: Nobre C, Coull JT (eds) Attention and time. Oxford University, New York, pp 317–330

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MR, Pfordresher PQ (1997) Tracking melodic events using joint accent structure. Can J Exp Psychol 51:271–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller PE (2008) Joint action in music performance. In: Morganti F, Carassa A, Riva G (eds) Enacting intersubjectivity: a cognitive and social perspective to the study of interactions. IOS Press, Amsterdam, pp 205–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller PE, Novembre G, Hove MJ (2014) Rhythm in joint action: psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms for real-time interpersonal coordination. Philos T R Soc B 369:20130394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kraus N, Chandrasekaran B (2010) Music training for the development of auditory skills. Nat Rev Neurosci 11:599–605

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Large EW, Jones MR (1999) The dynamics of attending: how people track time-varying events. Psychol Rev 106(1):119–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Large EW, Palmer C (2002) Perceiving temporal regularity in music. Cogn Sci 26:1–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehiste I (1977) Isochrony reconsidered. J Phon 5:253–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman M, Prince A (1977) On stress and linguistic rhythm. Linguist Inq 8:249–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Lidji P, Palmer C, Peretz I, Morningstar M (2011) Listeners feel the beat: entrainment to English and French speech rhythms. Psychon Bull Rev 18:1035–1041

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • London J (2012) Hearing in time. Psychological aspects of musical meter. New York, Oxford University

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mégevand P, Molholm S, Nayak A, Foxe JJ (2013) Recalibration of the multisensory temporal window of integration results from changing task demands. PLoS One 8(8):e71608

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nozaradan S, Zerouali Y, Peretz I, Mouraux A (2013) Capturing with EEG the neural entrainment and coupling underlying sensorimotor synchronization to the beat. Cereb Cortex 25(3):736–747

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Occelli V, Spence C, Zampini M (2011) Audiotactile interactions in temporal perception. Psychon Bull Rev 18:429–454

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patel AD (2008) Music, language, and the brain. Oxford University, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Patel AD (2011) Why would Musical Training Benefit the Neural Encoding of Speech? The OPERA Hypothesis. Front Psychol 2(142):142

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Patel AD, Daniele JR (2003) An empirical comparison of rhythm in language and music. Cognition 87:B35–B45

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pike KN (1945) The intonation of American English. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (1998) A microcosm of musical expression. I. Quantitative analysis of pianists’ timing in the initial measures of Chopin’s Etude in E major. J Acoust Soc Am 104:1085–1100

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2000) Compensation for subliminal timing perturbations in perceptual-motor synchronization. Psychol Res 63:106–128

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2001) Phase correction, phase resetting, and phase shifts after subliminal timing perturbations in sensorimotor synchronization. J Exp Psych Hum Percept Perform 27:600–621

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2002) Automaticity and voluntary control of phase correction following event onset shifts in sensorimotor synchronization. J Exp Psych Hum Percept Perform 28:410–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2003) Phase attraction in sensorimotor synchronization with auditory sequences: effects of single and periodic distractors on synchronization accuracy. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 29:290–309

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2004) On the nature of phase attraction in sensorimotor synchronization with interleaved auditory sequences. Hum Mov Sci 23:389–413

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2005) Sensorimotor synchronization: a review of the tapping literature. Psychon Bull Rev 12(6):969–992

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2006) Rate limits of sensorimotor synchronization. Adv Cog Psych 2:163–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH (2010) Sensorimotor synchronization and perception of timing: effect of music training and task experience. Hum Mov Sci 29:200–213

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH, Doggett R (2007) Tapping to a very slow beat: a comparison of musicians and non-musicians. Music Percept 24:367–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH, Keller PE (2004) Adaptation to tempo changes in sensorimotor synchronization: effects of intention, attention, and awareness. Q J Exp Psychol 57A:499–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH, Penel A (2004) Rhythmic movement is attracted more strongly to auditory than to visual rhythms. Psychol Res 68:252–270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Repp BH, Su Y-H (2013) Sensorimotor synchronization: a review of recent research (2006–2012). Psychon Bull Rev 20:403–452

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy C, Dalla Bella S, Lagarde J (2016) To bridge or not to bridge the multisensory time gap: bimanual coordination to sound and touch with temporal lags. Exp Brain Res. doi:10.1007/s00221-016-4776-4

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Selkirk EO (1984) Phonology and syntax: the relation between sound and structure. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater J, Kraus N (2015) The role of rhythm in perceiving speech in noise: a comparison -of percussionists, vocalists and non-musicians. Cogn Process. doi:10.1007/s10339-015-0740-7

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens C, Byron T (2009) Universals in musical processing. In: Hallam S, Cross I, Thaut M (eds) Oxford handbook of music psychology. Oxford University, New York, pp 14–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Thaut MH, Miller RA, Schauer LM (1998) Multiple synchronization strategies in rhythmic sensorimotor tasks: phase vs. period correction. Biol Cybern 79:241–250

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson EC, White-Schwoch T, Tierney A, Kraus N (2015) Beat synchronization across the lifespan: intersection of development and musical experience. PLoS One 10(6):e0128839

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney A, Kraus N (2014) The ability to move to a beat is linked to the consistency of neural responses to sound. J Neurosci 33(38):14981–14988

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tillmann B, Bigand E (2001) Global context effect in normal and scrambled musical sequences. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 27(5):1185–1196

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trainor LJ, Shahin AJ, Roberts LE (2009) Understanding the benefits of musical training: effects on oscillatory brain activity. Ann NY Acad Sci 1169:133–142

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tuwim J (1980) Wiersze dla dzieci. Warszawa, Nasza Księgarnia

    Google Scholar 

  • Villing RC, Repp BH, Ward TE, Timoney JM (2011) Measuring perceptual centers using the phase correction response. Atten Percept Psychophys 73:1614–1629

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff Carr K, White-Schwoch T, Tierney AT, Straita DL, Kraus N (2014) Beat synchronization predicts neural speech encoding and reading readiness in preschoolers. PNAS 111(40):14559–14564

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zatorre RJ, Chen JL, Penhune VB (2007) When the brain plays music: auditory–motor interactions in music perception and production. Nat Rev Neurosci 8:547–558

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Editor and two anonymous Reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript. The study was supported by a Junior grant from the Institute Universitaire de France to SDB, and a Marie Curie ITN grant from the European Union (7th Framework Programme) to AB.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Psychology, WSFiZ, Warsaw, Poland

    Anita Białuńska & Simone Dalla Bella

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 1101 Campbell Street, El Paso, TX, 79902, USA

    Anita Białuńska

  3. EuroMov, University of Montpellier, 700 Avenue du Pic St Loup, 34090, Montpellier, France

    Simone Dalla Bella

  4. Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France

    Simone Dalla Bella

  5. International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, Canada

    Simone Dalla Bella

Authors
  1. Anita Białuńska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Simone Dalla Bella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Anita Białuńska or Simone Dalla Bella.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Białuńska, A., Dalla Bella, S. Music and speech distractors disrupt sensorimotor synchronization: effects of musical training. Exp Brain Res 235, 3619–3630 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-5080-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-5080-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation