title: Complementary fMRI and EEG evidence for more efficient neural processing of rhythmic vs. unpredictably timed sounds.
abstract: The brain's fascinating ability to adapt its internal neural dynamics to the temporal structure of the sensory environment is becoming increasingly clear. It is thought to be metabolically beneficial to align ongoing oscillatory activity to the relevant inputs in a predictable stream, so that they will enter at optimal processing phases of the spontaneously occurring rhythmic excitability fluctuations. However, some contexts have a more predictable temporal structure than others. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the processing of rhythmic sounds is more efficient than the processing of irregularly timed sounds. To do this, we simultaneously measured functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electro-encephalograms (EEG) while participants detected oddball target sounds in alternating blocks of rhythmic (e.g., with equal inter-stimulus intervals) or random (e.g., with randomly varied inter-stimulus intervals) tone sequences. Behaviorally, participants detected target sounds faster and more accurately when embedded in rhythmic streams. The fMRI response in the auditory cortex was stronger during random compared to random tone sequence processing. Simultaneously recorded N1 responses showed larger peak amplitudes and longer latencies for tones in the random (vs. the rhythmic) streams. These results reveal complementary evidence for more efficient neural and perceptual processing during temporally predictable sensory contexts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Neuroscience, VU University , Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Institute Learn!, VU University , Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University , Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nienke
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: van Atteveldt
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech and Language Pathology, University of the Pacific , San Francisco, CA, USA ; Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University Medical School , Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Musacchia
authors.affiliation: The Gonda Center for Multidisciplinary Brain Research, Bar Ilan University , Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Elana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zion-Golumbic
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia Program, Nathan S. Kline Institute , Orangeburg, NY, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Pejman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sehatpour
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia Program, Nathan S. Kline Institute , Orangeburg, NY, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Javitt
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia Program, Nathan S. Kline Institute , Orangeburg, NY, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University , New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schroeder
keywords: EEG; auditory cortex; fMRI; rhythm; sound processing; temporal context