title: Fractal structure enables temporal prediction in music.
abstract: 1/f serial correlations and statistical self-similarity (fractal structure) have been measured in various dimensions of musical compositions. Musical performances also display 1/f properties in expressive tempo fluctuations, and listeners predict tempo changes when synchronizing. Here the authors show that the 1/f structure is sufficient for listeners to predict the onset times of upcoming musical events. These results reveal what information listeners use to anticipate events in complex, non-isochronous acoustic rhythms, and this will entail innovative models of temporal synchronization. This finding could improve therapies for Parkinson's and related disorders and inform deeper understanding of how endogenous neural rhythms anticipate events in complex, temporally structured communication signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Ross Building #826, Baltimore, Maryland 21205 srankin5@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Summer K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rankin
authors.affiliation: School of Sport and Exercise, Massey University Manawatu, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 4442 P.Fink@massey.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Philip W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Physics, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-1020 edward.large@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Edward W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Large
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D010507:Periodicity; D010898:Pitch Perception; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013997:Time Factors