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Motor and Predictive Processes in Auditory Beat and Rhythm Perception
Shannon Proksch1, Daniel C Comstock1, Butovens Médé1
1Sensorimotor Neuroscience Laboratory, Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, United States.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|October 16, 2020
Summary
Internal predictive models, generated by the motor system, explain how we perceive rhythm and musical beat. This research integrates auditory-motor interactions and active inference for a deeper understanding of auditory prediction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Perception
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Rhythm and musical beat perception involve complex auditory-motor interactions.
- The role of the motor system in passive listening remains an area of active research.
- Predictive processing frameworks offer a potential explanation for these interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in rhythm and musical beat perception research.
- To explore the role of predictive processes in auditory-motor interactions.
- To integrate the Active Inference framework with existing hypotheses on rhythm perception.
Main Methods:
- Review of experimental evidence on the motor system's role in beat perception.
- Analysis of the Action Simulation for Auditory Prediction (ASAP) hypothesis.
- Analysis of the Gradual Audiomotor Evolution (GAE) hypothesis.
- Synthesis of findings from both hypotheses within the Active Inference framework.
Main Results:
- Experimental evidence suggests the motor system plays a crucial role in beat perception, even during passive listening.
- Internal predictive models, generated by the motor system, likely underpin auditory-motor interactions in rhythm perception.
- Both ASAP and GAE hypotheses, while initially distinct, offer converging evidence for the predictive function of the motor system in auditory processing.
Conclusions:
- The motor system's predictive capabilities are central to understanding rhythm and musical beat perception.
- Active Inference provides a unifying framework for explaining auditory-motor interactions in rhythm processing.
- Further experimental research is needed to elucidate the causal neural mechanisms underlying beat and rhythm perception.
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