Slower spontaneous rates are linked to better performance in pitch discrimination tasks

TY - CONF

T1 - Slower spontaneous rates are linked to better performance in pitch discrimination tasks

AU - Møller, Cecilie

AU - Zamm, Anna

AU - Engler, Ben

PY - 2024/6/15

Y1 - 2024/6/15

N2 - Many everyday events and actions display stable rhythmic patterns, such as walking, talking, and making music, and individuals’ spontaneous rates in performing such tasks vary considerably. Endogenous rhythms thought to underlie these spontaneous rates influence our brains’ sensitivity to sensory information structured in time. Thus, the question arises: do individuals’ spontaneous rates influence perceptual sensitivity beyond the timing domain, specifically pitch discrimination ability? Sixty participants completed two pitch discrimination tests and eight tasks assessing spontaneous rates in different ways (clapping, walking, tapping to produce melodies, tapping with and without sound production, tapping online outside and in the lab). Participants’ spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) was measured in an initial tapping task and the subsequent pitch discrimination threshold (PDT) test featured three stimulus presentation rate conditions: at SMT, 15% faster, and 15% slower. This was also the case for the oddball task at rates between 350 ms and 750 ms (n=39). For participants beyond these limits (n=20), a presentation rate of 550 ms substituted the rate presented in the SMT condition. Preliminary results show no support for the main hypothesis that anchoring stimulus presentation rate at participants’ individual SMT increases sensitivity to pitch changes, compared to 15% faster or slower. Interestingly, though, participants with slower spontaneous rates performed better in the PDT test. Within the group of tappers exposed to identical presentation rates in the oddball task (n=20), better pitch sensitivity and faster response times were also linked to slower spontaneous rates across several tasks. While more musicians had slower SMTs the association was particularly strong in musicians. Together, our results indicate that the effect is not caused by differences in stimulus presentation rate or by slower SMT in musicians but linked to individual differences in SMT. Whether the association is driven by better test-taking abilities or increased sensory processing remains open.

AB - Many everyday events and actions display stable rhythmic patterns, such as walking, talking, and making music, and individuals’ spontaneous rates in performing such tasks vary considerably. Endogenous rhythms thought to underlie these spontaneous rates influence our brains’ sensitivity to sensory information structured in time. Thus, the question arises: do individuals’ spontaneous rates influence perceptual sensitivity beyond the timing domain, specifically pitch discrimination ability? Sixty participants completed two pitch discrimination tests and eight tasks assessing spontaneous rates in different ways (clapping, walking, tapping to produce melodies, tapping with and without sound production, tapping online outside and in the lab). Participants’ spontaneous motor tempo (SMT) was measured in an initial tapping task and the subsequent pitch discrimination threshold (PDT) test featured three stimulus presentation rate conditions: at SMT, 15% faster, and 15% slower. This was also the case for the oddball task at rates between 350 ms and 750 ms (n=39). For participants beyond these limits (n=20), a presentation rate of 550 ms substituted the rate presented in the SMT condition. Preliminary results show no support for the main hypothesis that anchoring stimulus presentation rate at participants’ individual SMT increases sensitivity to pitch changes, compared to 15% faster or slower. Interestingly, though, participants with slower spontaneous rates performed better in the PDT test. Within the group of tappers exposed to identical presentation rates in the oddball task (n=20), better pitch sensitivity and faster response times were also linked to slower spontaneous rates across several tasks. While more musicians had slower SMTs the association was particularly strong in musicians. Together, our results indicate that the effect is not caused by differences in stimulus presentation rate or by slower SMT in musicians but linked to individual differences in SMT. Whether the association is driven by better test-taking abilities or increased sensory processing remains open.

M3 - Poster

T2 - The Neurosciences and Music VIII

Y2 - 13 June 2024 through 16 June 2024

ER -