title: Unraveling the finding of 1/f beta noise in self-paced and synchronized tapping: a unifying mechanistic model.
abstract: 1/f (beta) noise has been revealed in both self-paced and synchronized tapping sequences, without being consistently taken into consideration for the modeling of underlying timing mechanisms. In this study we characterize variability, short-range, and long-range correlation properties of asynchronies and inter-tap intervals collected in a synchronization tapping experiment, attesting statistically the presence of 1/f (beta) noise in asynchronies. We verify that the linear phase correction model of synchronization tapping in its original formulation cannot account for the empirical long-range correlation properties. On the basis of previous accounts of 1/f (beta) noise in the literature on self-paced tapping, we propose an extension of the original synchronization model by modeling the timekeeping process as a source of 1/f (beta) fluctuations. Simulations show that this '1/f-AR synchronization model' accounts for the statistical properties of empirical series, including long-range correlations, and provides an unifying mechanistic account of 1/f (beta) noise in self-paced and synchronization tapping. This account opens the original synchronization framework to further investigations of timing mechanisms with regard to the serial correlation properties in performed time intervals.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport Sciences, EA 2991, Motor Efficiency and Deficiency, University Montpellier 1, 700 avenue du Pic saint Loup, 34090, Montpellier, France. ktorre@univ-montp1.fr
authors.forename: Kjerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delignières
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010507:Periodicity; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*