RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A silent disco: Persistent entrainment of low-frequency neural oscillations underlies beat-based, but not pattern-based temporal expectations
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.01.08.899278
DO 10.1101/2020.01.08.899278
A1 Fleur L. Bouwer
A1 Johannes J. Fahrenfort
A1 Samantha K. Millard
A1 Niels A. Kloosterman
A1 Heleen A. Slagter
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/09/27/2020.01.08.899278.abstract
AB The brain uses temporal structure in the environment, like rhythm in music and speech, to predict the timing of events, thereby optimizing their processing and perception. Temporal expectations can be grounded in different aspects of the input structure, such as a regular beat or a predictable pattern. One influential account posits that a generic mechanism underlies beat-based and pattern-based expectations, namely entrainment of low frequency neural oscillations to rhythmic input, while other accounts assume different underlying neural mechanisms. Here, we addressed this outstanding issue by examining EEG activity and behavioral responses during silent periods following rhythmic auditory sequences. We measured responses outlasting the rhythms both to avoid confounding the EEG analyses with evoked responses, and to directly test whether beat-based and pattern-based expectations persist beyond stimulation, as predicted by entrainment theories. To properly disentangle beat-based and pattern-based expectations, which often occur simultaneously, we used non-isochronous rhythms with a beat, a predictable pattern, or random timing. In Experiment 1 (N = 32), beat-based expectations affected behavioral ratings of probe events for two beat-cycles after the end of the rhythm, while the effects of pattern-based expectations reflected one interval. In Experiment 2 (N = 27), using EEG, we found enhanced spectral power at the beat frequency for beat-based sequences both during listening and the silence, but for pattern-based sequences, enhanced power at a pattern-specific frequency was only present during listening, not silence. Moreover, we found a difference in the evoked signal following pattern-based and beat-based sequences. Finally, we show how multivariate pattern decoding and multi scale entropy – measures sensitive to non-oscillatory components of the signal – can be used to probe temporal expectations. Together, our results suggest that different mechanisms implement temporal expectations, depending on the input structure. We suggest climbing activity may reflect pattern-based, and persistent low frequency oscillations beat-based expectations specifically.Highlights- Temporal expectations can be based on both regular beats and predictable patterns- Behavioral effects differentiate between beat-based and pattern-based expectations- EEG power tracks the beat, but not the pattern, outlasting rhythmic stimuli- Pattern-based and beat-based expectations differentially affect evoked potentials- Decoding and entropy may index temporal expectations in a time-resolved wayCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.