Passive listening to preferred motor tempo modulates corticospinal excitability

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dc.contributor.authorMichaelis, Kelly
dc.contributor.authorWiener, Martin
dc.contributor.authorThompson, James C.
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-15T15:21:37Z
dc.date.available2015-10-15T15:21:37Z
dc.date.issued2014-04-24
dc.description.abstractRhythms are an essential characteristic of our lives, and auditory-motor coupling affects a variety of behaviors. Previous research has shown that the neural regions associated with motor system processing are coupled to perceptual rhythmic and melodic processing such that the perception of rhythmic stimuli can entrain motor system responses. However, the degree to which individual preference modulates the motor system is unknown. Recent work has shown that passively listening to metrically strong rhythms increases corticospinal excitability, as indicated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Furthermore, this effect is modulated by high-groove music, or music that inspires movement, while neuroimaging evidence suggests that premotor activity increases with tempos occurring within a preferred tempo (PT) category. PT refers to the rate of a hypothetical endogenous oscillator that may be indicated by spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) and preferred perceptual tempo (PPT) measurements. The present study investigated whether listening to a rhythm at an individual’s PT preferentially modulates motor system excitability. SMT was obtained in human participants through a tapping task in which subjects were asked to tap a response key at their most comfortable rate. Subjects listened a 10-beat tone sequence at 11 log-spaced tempos and rated their preference for each (PPT). We found that SMT and PPT measurements were correlated, indicating that preferred and produced tempos occurred at a similar rate. Crucially, single-pulse TMS delivered to left M1 during PPT judgments revealed that corticospinal excitability, measured by motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), was modulated by tempos traveling closer to individual PT. However, the specific nature of this modulation differed across individuals, with some exhibiting an increase in excitability around PT and others exhibiting a decrease. These findings suggest that auditory-motor coupling induced by rhythms is preferentially modulated by rhythms occurring at a preferred rate, and that individual differences can alter the nature of this coupling.
dc.description.sponsorshipPublication of this article was funded in part by the George Mason University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund.
dc.identifier.citationMichaelis K, Wiener M and Thompson JC (2014) Passive listening to preferred motor tempo modulates corticospinal excitability. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8:252. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00252
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00252
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1920/9948
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Media
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 United States
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
dc.subjectTranscranial magnetic stimulation
dc.subjectRhythm perception
dc.subjectTempo and timing
dc.subjectCorticospinal excitability
dc.subjectIndividual differences
dc.titlePassive listening to preferred motor tempo modulates corticospinal excitability
dc.typeArticle

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