The role of cue type and musical background on auditory-motor synchronization: A dual task finger-tapping study

Auditory-motor synchronization has been widely studied and applied in different settings, including rehabilitation as a means of cueing movement with sound. However, minimal emphasis has been put on how distinct cue types, task conditions, and individual differences in musical background influence the cued movement. To determine the extent these factors influence performance, a total of 43 healthy young-adults were recruited in a within-subjects design and were asked to tap along with their index finger to ~30 second music or metronome excerpts of 120 BPM in a single and dual tasking condition (with a working memory task). The results indicate that there is a significant difference between single and dual-task performance in music (Mdiff = 3.06, SE = 0.71, p < .001, 95% CI [1.01, 5.02]) and metronome (Mdiff = 3.99, SE = 1.18, p = .01, 95% CI [0.72, 7.26]) cues. No significant differences were found between cue types on dual-task cost, a relative measure of performance loss while...Show moreAuditory-motor synchronization has been widely studied and applied in different settings, including rehabilitation as a means of cueing movement with sound. However, minimal emphasis has been put on how distinct cue types, task conditions, and individual differences in musical background influence the cued movement. To determine the extent these factors influence performance, a total of 43 healthy young-adults were recruited in a within-subjects design and were asked to tap along with their index finger to ~30 second music or metronome excerpts of 120 BPM in a single and dual tasking condition (with a working memory task). The results indicate that there is a significant difference between single and dual-task performance in music (Mdiff = 3.06, SE = 0.71, p < .001, 95% CI [1.01, 5.02]) and metronome (Mdiff = 3.99, SE = 1.18, p = .01, 95% CI [0.72, 7.26]) cues. No significant differences were found between cue types on dual-task cost, a relative measure of performance loss while dual-tasking (Z = -0.52, p = .60, r = -.08, 95% CI [-20.82, 10.64]). Finally, an average/intermediate level of musical background (measured with the Goldsmith Musical Sophistication Index) was not found to be an influencing factor on performance (F(2.14,87.57) = 1.26, p = .29, ηp2 = .03). These findings suggest that auditory-motor synchronization, once thought to be a more automatic process, is impacted while dual-tasking, indicating that cued movement performance declines when attention capacity is limited. This may have implications for movement cueing in clinical settings, where cognitive capacity is often reduced. Furthermore, the interference experienced while dual-tasking was not influenced by cue type, which may imply that music and metronome can be utilized interchangeably in similar study designs. Musical background was not found to influence performance, nonetheless, more studies are needed to measure the influence of more extreme musical abilities seeing as most participants in this study had an average level of musical skills.Show less

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The role of cue type and musical background on auditory-motor synchronization: A dual task finger-tapping study