Individual differences in rhtyhm perception and beat production

I received an advanced copy of a interesting manuscript accepted for publication by J. Grahn and D. McAuley, two researchers studying mental timing, and rhythm perception and beat production in particular.  The title of their "in press" article is Neural bases of individual differences in beat perception.  Since the manuscript has not gone through the final editing stage, I currently cannot make it available for viewing.  At this time I'm just providing a "sneak peak" via a copy of the abstract on the accepted version of the manuscript.  Dr. Grahn is listed under the Mental Timing Scholars blogroll at this blog.  Copies of other related publications by these researchers can be found at their professional web pages.  I'll be keeping an eye open for the formal publication

Abstract

When people listen to music, they often move their body in time with the beat. However, people differ widely in their tendency to ‘feel a beat’. Why? Here we combined functional magnetic resonance imaging with a timing task that is diagnostic of individual differences in beat perception and compared the brain activity of individuals who readily perceive an implied beat with those who do not. Activation in auditory and motor areas was correlated with individual differences in beat perception, even when participants performed a timing task in which no behavioral differences occurred. The results support two conclusions. First, beat perception is mediated by the activation of cortical circuits involved in rhythm production. Second, some individuals more readily engage these
cortical beat-based circuits when making timing judgments than do others.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, biological psychology, school psychology, music, neuropsychology, neuroscience, beat production, rhythm, rhythm perception, IQ Brain Clock

Snowball the dancing bird: The academic article found

I finally found an "in press" copy of the academic article that seems to have caused the recent stir regarding Snowball the dancing bird.  See prior post re: implications for topics covered at the IQ Brain Clock.

The article the Patel et al is in process in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.  Click here to view.

Enjoy.  You gotta love science when it studies the behaviors of a dancing bird posted on YouTube.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, intelligence, synchronization, beat perception, beat production, Snowball, music perception, temporal processing, IQ Brain Clock, mental timing

Music perception and the dancing bird

Music perception, rhythm, beat perception and production have been topics discussed at this blog as the mental or IQ Brain time clock and temporal processing seems to be intimately involved in these functions. Interestingly there is evidence from the animal kingdom that similar basic processes at play.

An interesting a fun example as a famous video clip of a dancing bird named Snowball. Watch it all...it gets very good.

Thanks to Amy Vega for sending this to me.Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, cognition, intelligence, mental timing, interval timing, mind clock, IQ Brain Clock, beat perception, beat production, musc perception, rhythm perception

Mental Time Keeping Scholar: Dr. Jessica Grahn

Dr. Jessica Grahn, a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit), has been a prolific researcher (click here for list of related publications) re: how the brain processes rhythms and beats, cognitive functions clearly that involve the IQ Brain Clock.

I've just added Dr. Grahn to the IQs Corner Mental Timing Scholars list. I look forward to catching up on her publications, both past and future.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, cognitition, intelligence, IQ, neuropsychology, mental timing, interval timing, temporal processing, rhythm perception, beat production, music perception, Parkinsons, Mental Timing Scholar, IQ Brain Clock