title: Executive control and working memory are involved in sub-second repetitive motor timing.
abstract: The nature of the relationship between timing and cognition remains poorly understood. Cognitive control is known to be involved in discrete timing tasks involving durations above 1 s, but has not yet been demonstrated for repetitive motor timing below 1 s. We examined the latter in two continuation tapping experiments, by varying the cognitive load in a concurrent task. In Experiment 1, participants repeated a fixed three finger sequence (low executive load) or a pseudorandom sequence (high load) with either 524-, 733-, 1024- or 1431-ms inter-onset intervals (IOIs). High load increased timing variability for 524 and 733-ms IOIs but not for the longer IOIs. Experiment 2 attempted to replicate this finding for a concurrent memory task. Participants retained three letters (low working memory load) or seven letters (high load) while producing intervals (524- and 733-ms IOIs) with a drum stick. High load increased timing variability for both IOIs. Taken together, the experiments demonstrate that cognitive control processes influence sub-second repetitive motor timing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden. Linus.Holm@psy.umu.se.
authors.forename: Linus
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Olympia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karampela
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ullén
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Madison
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Continuation tapping; Dual task; Executive functions; Isochronous interval production; Random action generation; Timing; Working memory