White matter microstructural properties correlate with sensorimotor synchronization abilities

Tal Blecher, Idan Tal, Michal Ben-Shachar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) to an external auditory rhythm is a developed ability in humans, particularly evident in dancing and singing. This ability is typically measured in the lab via a simple task of finger tapping to an auditory beat. While simplistic, there is some evidence that poor performance on this task could be related to impaired phonological and reading abilities in children. Auditory-motor synchronization is hypothesized to rely on a tight coupling between auditory and motor neural systems, but the specific pathways that mediate this coupling have not been identified yet. In this study, we test this hypothesis and examine the contribution of fronto-temporal and callosal connections to specific measures of rhythmic synchronization. Twenty participants went through SMS and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) measurements. We quantified the mean asynchrony between an auditory beat and participants' finger taps, as well as the time to resynchronize (TTR) with an altered meter, and examined the correlations between these behavioral measures and diffusivity in a small set of predefined pathways. We found significant correlations between asynchrony and fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left (but not right) arcuate fasciculus and in the temporal segment of the corpus callosum. On the other hand, TTR correlated with FA in the precentral segment of the callosum. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that relates these particular white matter tracts with performance on an auditory-motor rhythmic synchronization task. We propose that left fronto-temporal and temporal-callosal fibers are involved in prediction and constant comparison between auditory inputs and motor commands, while inter-hemispheric connections between the motor/premotor cortices contribute to successful resynchronization of motor responses with a new external rhythm, perhaps via inhibition of tapping to the previous rhythm. Our results indicate that auditory-motor synchronization skills are associated with anatomical pathways that have been previously related to phonological awareness, thus offering a possible anatomical basis for the behavioral covariance between these abilities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalNeuroImage
Volume138
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.

Funding

This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF grant 513/11 ) and by the Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE) in the Cognitive Sciences of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and Israel Science Foundation (Grant #51/11 ). We are grateful to Moshe Abeles for many discussions along the way and for taking part in conceptualizing the behavioral measurements. We thank the team at the Wohl institute for advanced imaging in Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, for their assistance with protocol setup and MRI scanning. We thank Jason Yeatman for his assistance with the AFQ code. We thank Vered Kronfeld-Duenias, Oren Civier, Chen Gafni and Maya Yablonski for their help during the preparation of this manuscript.

FundersFunder number
Cognitive Sciences of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and Israel Science Foundation51/11
Israeli Center of Research Excellence
Israel Science Foundation513/11

    Keywords

    • Arcuate fasciculus
    • Corpus callosum
    • Diffusion MRI
    • Musical meter
    • Sensorimotor synchronization
    • Tractography

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