Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
J Biol Rhythms. 2018 Aug;33(4):432-440. doi: 10.1177/0748730418783651. Epub 2018 Jun 25.
Many human action sequences, such as speaking and performing music, are inherently rhythmic: Sequence events are produced at quasi-regular temporal intervals. A wide range of interindividual variation has been noted in spontaneous production rates of these rhythmic action sequences. Dynamical theories of motor coordination suggest that individuals spontaneously produce rhythmic sequences at a natural frequency characterized by minimal energy expenditure and maximal temporal stability, relative to other frequencies. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the temporal variability with which musicians performed rhythmic melodies at their natural spontaneous rate with variability in their performances at faster and slower rates. Musicians' temporal variability was lowest during performances at their spontaneous rate; in addition, performers' tempo drift during trials at other rates showed bias toward their spontaneous rate. This study provides the first direct evidence that spontaneous rates of motor coordination represent optimally stable natural frequencies of endogenous rhythms.
许多人类动作序列，如说话和演奏音乐，本质上是有节奏的：序列事件以近乎规则的时间间隔产生。在这些有节奏的动作序列的自发产生率方面，已经注意到了广泛的个体间差异。运动协调的动力理论表明，相对于其他频率，个体自发地以最小能量消耗和最大时间稳定性为特征的自然频率产生有节奏的序列。我们通过比较音乐家以其自然自发速度演奏节奏旋律的时间可变性与以更快和更慢速度演奏时的可变性来检验这一假设。音乐家在以其自然自发速度演奏时的时间可变性最低；此外，在其他速度下的演奏试验中，演奏者的节奏漂移表现出对其自然自发速度的偏向。这项研究首次直接证明，运动协调的自发率代表了最佳稳定的内源性节律自然频率。
