Being “in sync” with music is the result of a complex process, not merely the brain’s automatic adjustment to rhythm — according to the latest research from the Faculty of Education and Psychology at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), which examined what helps people maintain rhythm while playing music or dancing.
The intricate harmony between the human brain and musical rhythm has long intrigued researchers, as detailed in ELTE’s Thursday press release.
“To move in time with music, our movements must align with its rhythm — our brain must detect recurring, emphasized beats and follow the ‘pulse’,” the release explains. This ability is fundamental for playing music together, dancing, or even clapping at a concert, they added.
It was noted that musical ability varies among individuals: some can easily keep rhythm, clap or drum precisely, while others struggle.
Previous research suggests that a process known as neural entrainment largely determines how well the brain synchronizes with rhythm.
ELTE PPK researchers — Maria de Lourdes Noboa, Csaba Kertész, and Ferenc Honbolygó — explored how neural entrainment to rhythmic patterns predicts synchronization skills in adults. Their study was recently published in Nature Scientific Reports. They also examined cognitive traits such as working memory and musical training.
Participants’ brain activity was measured via EEG while they passively listened to short, rhythmic musical excerpts — some with regular accentuation, others syncopated or incomplete.
Afterward, participants tapped their fingers in time with a metronome to assess their rhythmic abilities. Researchers also tested their short-term memory, and had previously recorded their level of musical training.
The findings were surprising: participants whose brains tracked regular, emphasized rhythms more closely performed worse on the tapping task, showing less accurate and consistent synchronization. Conversely, those with better working memory tapped more precisely and steadily. Musical training was not a significant factor — suggesting that musical education does not necessarily improve rhythmic synchronization, and even trained musicians may have poor rhythm.
This suggests that being in sync with music is a complex process — not just automatic brain adaptation to rhythm. In fact, overly strong entrainment to a beat might even reduce the flexibility of movement timing. Good memory function appears to play a more crucial role in successful rhythm adaptation than previously thought.
The research offers a new perspective on rhythm perception and emphasizes its complexity across multiple cognitive domains.
“Because rhythm perception is often impaired in developmental disorders like dyslexia, stuttering, or attention deficit disorder, a deeper understanding of it may help design targeted rhythm-based interventions that could improve not only musical but also related cognitive skills,” the researchers concluded.
(MTI)
