TOP-DOWN TO BOTTOM-UP: RHYTHMIC SYNCHRONY RELAXES SOCIAL PRIORS TO ENABLE CHANGE

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Motor Science
• Biomusicology
• Social Neuroscience

Background:

• Interpersonal synchrony, such as shared rhythmic movement, is often viewed as a key mechanism for group cohesion.
• However, synchrony also reduces ingroup bias, bonds strangers, flattens hierarchies, and can induce trance-like states, challenging its role in strict group formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose the relaxed priors through synchrony (RePS) model, integrating findings from various fields to explain the multifaceted effects of synchrony.
• To account for why synchronized activities can both foster cohesion and soften social boundaries, and why authorities sometimes condemn rhythmic music.

Main Methods:

• A literature review integrating findings from cognitive motor science, biomusicology, and adjacent fields.
• Synthesis of existing research to develop the RePS model, focusing on synchrony's impact on social predictive processing.

Main Results:

• The RePS model posits that sensorimotor signals from synchrony enhance prediction error precision at fine temporal scales (<2 seconds).
• This process reduces precision for abstract social priors, inverting the typical 'top-heavy' social brain processing and lowering psychological construal.
• This leads to disinhibited enjoyment, revisable social priors, and a state conducive to coordinated change, as seen in rituals.

Conclusions:

• Synchrony is more than a bonding mechanism; it facilitates cognitive and social change by relaxing social priors.
• The RePS model explains phenomena such as the frequent disapproval of dance music by authorities, the role of dance in social transitions, and the association of rhythm with trance states.