Musical expertise generalizes to superior temporal scaling in a Morse code tapping task.

ABSTRACT: A key feature of the brain's ability to tell time and generate complex temporal patterns is its capacity to produce similar temporal patterns at different speeds. For example, humans can tie a shoe, type, or play an instrument at different speeds or tempi-a phenomenon referred to as temporal scaling. While it is well established that training improves timing precision and accuracy, it is not known whether expertise improves temporal scaling, and if so, whether it generalizes across skill domains. We quantified temporal scaling and timing precision in musicians and non-musicians as they learned to tap a Morse code sequence. We found that non-musicians improved significantly over the course of days of training at the standard speed. In contrast, musicians exhibited a high level of temporal p

SUBMITTER: Slayton MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6944339 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature