Intertrial auditory neural stability supports beat synchronization in preschoolers

The ability to synchronize motor movements along with an auditory beat places stringent demands on the temporal processing and sensorimotor integration capabilities of the nervous system. Links between millisecond-level precision of auditory encoding and the consistency of sensorimotor beat synchronization implicate fine auditory neural timing as a potential mechanism for forming stable internal representations of, and behavioral reactions to, sound events. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate a systematic relationship between consistency of beat synchronization and consistency of subcortical neural speech processing in preschoolers (ages 3 and 4 years old). We conclude that beat synchronization might be a useful behavioral window into millisecond-level subcortical neural precision for encoding sound in early childhood; at an age that speech processing is especially important for language acquisition and development