MatTAP: A MATLAB toolbox for the control and analysis of movement synchronisation experiments

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Psychophysics

Background:

• Investigating sub-second movement timing and synchronization requires high-fidelity experimental setups.
• Modern operating systems present challenges for precise timing control with standard hardware and software.
• Existing methods may lack the necessary temporal accuracy or ease of use for complex timing experiments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the MATLAB Timing Analysis Package (MatTAP), a free software suite for precise movement timing and synchronization research.
• To provide a flexible, accurate, and user-friendly tool for generating timing cues and capturing participant responses.
• To facilitate the analysis of timing data and demonstrate the toolbox's utility in sensorimotor synchronization paradigms.

Main Methods:

• Development of a free software suite within the MATLAB environment for Windows.
• Implementation of flexible cue generation with high temporal accuracy.
• Integration of automatic response capture, storage, and an analysis module with a graphical user interface.
• Validation through comparison with manual observation and replication of a sensorimotor synchronization experiment.

Main Results:

• The MatTAP toolbox enables flexible generation of timing cues with high temporal accuracy.
• It allows for automatic capture and storage of participant responses.
• The analysis module is validated and demonstrates versatility for movement synchronization paradigms.

Conclusions:

• MatTAP offers a valuable, accurate, and accessible solution for researchers studying sub-second movement timing and synchronization.
• The toolbox simplifies complex experimental setups and data analysis, overcoming limitations of standard PC environments.
• Its flexibility and customizability support a wide range of timing-related research, including sensorimotor synchronization.