What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception
Temporal predictions can be formed and impact perception when sensory timing is fully predictable: for instance, the discrimination of a target sound is enhanced if it is presented on the beat of an isochronous rhythm. However, natural sensory stimuli, like speech or music, are not entirely predicta...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Cognition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/344 |
| _version_ | 1797315779318775808 |
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| author | Pierre Bonnet Mathilde Bonnefond Anne Kösem |
| author_facet | Pierre Bonnet Mathilde Bonnefond Anne Kösem |
| author_sort | Pierre Bonnet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Temporal predictions can be formed and impact perception when sensory timing is fully predictable: for instance, the discrimination of a target sound is enhanced if it is presented on the beat of an isochronous rhythm. However, natural sensory stimuli, like speech or music, are not entirely predictable, but still possess statistical temporal regularities. We investigated whether temporal expectations can be formed in non-fully predictable contexts, and how the temporal variability of sensory contexts affects auditory perception. Specifically, we asked how “rhythmic” an auditory stimulation needs to be in order to observe temporal predictions effects on auditory discrimination performances. In this behavioral auditory oddball experiment, participants listened to auditory sound sequences where the temporal interval between each sound was drawn from gaussian distributions with distinct standard deviations. Participants were asked to discriminate sounds with a deviant pitch in the sequences. Auditory discrimination performances, as measured with deviant sound discrimination accuracy and response times, progressively declined as the temporal variability of the sound sequence increased. Moreover, both global and local temporal statistics impacted auditory perception, suggesting that temporal statistics are promptly integrated to optimize perception. Altogether, these results suggests that temporal predictions can be set up quickly based on the temporal statistics of past sensory events and are robust to a certain amount of temporal variability. Therefore, temporal predictions can be built on sensory stimulations that are not purely periodic nor temporally deterministic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:08:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a44c815d5fa41249637408ef9f02c25 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2514-4820 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:08:47Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cognition |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a44c815d5fa41249637408ef9f02c252024-02-13T07:37:29ZengUbiquity PressJournal of Cognition2514-48202024-01-0171151510.5334/joc.344343What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory PerceptionPierre Bonnet0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8139-6119Mathilde Bonnefond1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0539-7671Anne Kösem2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-9999Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Computation, Cognition and Neurophysiology team (Cophy), Inserm U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, CNRS UMR 5292, 69000 LyonLyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Computation, Cognition and Neurophysiology team (Cophy), Inserm U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, CNRS UMR 5292, 69000 LyonLyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Computation, Cognition and Neurophysiology team (Cophy), Inserm U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1, CNRS UMR 5292, 69000 LyonTemporal predictions can be formed and impact perception when sensory timing is fully predictable: for instance, the discrimination of a target sound is enhanced if it is presented on the beat of an isochronous rhythm. However, natural sensory stimuli, like speech or music, are not entirely predictable, but still possess statistical temporal regularities. We investigated whether temporal expectations can be formed in non-fully predictable contexts, and how the temporal variability of sensory contexts affects auditory perception. Specifically, we asked how “rhythmic” an auditory stimulation needs to be in order to observe temporal predictions effects on auditory discrimination performances. In this behavioral auditory oddball experiment, participants listened to auditory sound sequences where the temporal interval between each sound was drawn from gaussian distributions with distinct standard deviations. Participants were asked to discriminate sounds with a deviant pitch in the sequences. Auditory discrimination performances, as measured with deviant sound discrimination accuracy and response times, progressively declined as the temporal variability of the sound sequence increased. Moreover, both global and local temporal statistics impacted auditory perception, suggesting that temporal statistics are promptly integrated to optimize perception. Altogether, these results suggests that temporal predictions can be set up quickly based on the temporal statistics of past sensory events and are robust to a certain amount of temporal variability. Therefore, temporal predictions can be built on sensory stimulations that are not purely periodic nor temporally deterministic.https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/344temporal predictionsauditory perceptionprobabilistic temporal contextstemporal statisticsrhythmicity perception |
| spellingShingle | Pierre Bonnet Mathilde Bonnefond Anne Kösem What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception Journal of Cognition temporal predictions auditory perception probabilistic temporal contexts temporal statistics rhythmicity perception |
| title | What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception |
| title_full | What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception |
| title_fullStr | What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception |
| title_short | What is a Rhythm for the Brain? The Impact of Contextual Temporal Variability on Auditory Perception |
| title_sort | what is a rhythm for the brain the impact of contextual temporal variability on auditory perception |
| topic | temporal predictions auditory perception probabilistic temporal contexts temporal statistics rhythmicity perception |
| url | https://account.journalofcognition.org/index.php/up-j-jc/article/view/344 |
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