Perception of strong-meter and weak-meter rhythms in children with spina bifida meningomyelocele.
Neurodevelopmental disorders such as spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) are often associated with dysrhythmic movement. We studied rhythm discrimination in 21 children with SBM and in 21 age-matched controls, with the research question being whether both groups showed a strong-meter advantage whereby rhythm discrimination is better for rhythms with a strong-meter, in which onsets of longer intervals occurred on the beat, than those with a weak-meter, in which onsets of longer intervals occurred off the beat. Compared to controls, the SBM group was less able to discriminate strong-meter rhythms, although they performed comparably in discriminating weak-meter rhythms. The attenuated strong-meter advantage in children with SBM shows that their rhythm deficits occur at the level of both perception and action, and may represent a central processing disruption of the brain mechanisms for rhythm.
Hopyan
Talar
T
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. t.hopyan@utoronto.ca
Schellenberg
E Glenn
EG
Dennis
Maureen
M
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000150:complications*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000150:complications*; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult