Body Movement Shapes Selectively the Neural Representation of Musical Rhythms

It is increasingly recognized that motor routines dynamically shape the processing of sensory inflow (e.g. hand movements to feel a texture or identify an object). These exploratory movements are often rhythmic, and it has been suggested that movement-perception shaping could be supported by movement-induced neural entrainment. In auditory perception, the shaping of perception by movement has been reported in humans using behavioral methods, but neurophysiological evidence is lacking. To fill this gap, we took advantage of a specific context, music. Participants listened to a cyclical rhythm before and after moving the body on this rhythm according to a specific meter. We found that the brain responses to the rhythm as recorded with EEG after body movement was significantly enhanced at meter frequencies to which participants had moved. These results provide evidence that body movement can shape selectively the subsequent perception and neural representation of auditory rhythms