title: Temporal Prediction in lieu of Periodic Stimulation.
abstract: Predicting not only what will happen, but also when it will happen is extremely helpful for optimizing perception and action. Temporal predictions driven by periodic stimulation increase perceptual sensitivity and reduce response latencies. At the neurophysiological level, a single mechanism has been proposed to mediate this twofold behavioral improvement: the rhythmic entrainment of slow cortical oscillations to the stimulation rate. However, temporal regularities can occur in aperiodic contexts, suggesting that temporal predictions per se may be dissociable from entrainment to periodic sensory streams. We investigated this possibility in two behavioral experiments, asking human participants to detect near-threshold auditory tones embedded in streams whose temporal and spectral properties were manipulated. While our findings confirm that periodic stimulation reduces response latencies, in agreement with the hypothesis of a stimulus-driven entrainment of neural excitability, they further reveal that this motor facilitation can be dissociated from the enhancement of auditory sensitivity. Perceptual sensitivity improvement is unaffected by the nature of temporal regularities (periodic vs aperiodic), but contingent on the co-occurrence of a fulfilled spectral prediction. Altogether, the dissociation between predictability and periodicity demonstrates that distinct mechanisms flexibly and synergistically operate to facilitate perception and action.
authors.affiliation: McConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, bnmorillon@gmail.com luc.h.arnal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0049-064X
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morillon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, Translational Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York 10962.
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Inserm unit 960, Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France, and.
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6522-7837
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wyart
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland bnmorillon@gmail.com luc.h.arnal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luc H
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2226-6497
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Arnal
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010507:Periodicity; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: auditory perception; behavior; oscillation; prediction; psychophysics; rhythm