Open AccessAre We in Time? How Predictive Coding and Dynamical Systems Explain Musical Synchrony
Author(s) -
Caroline Palmer,
Alexander P. Demos
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
current directions in psychological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.638
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1467-8721
pISSN - 0963-7214
DOI - 10.1177/09637214211053635
Subject(s) - predictive coding , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , psychology , synchronization (alternating current) , musical , coding (social sciences) , contrast (vision) , cognitive psychology , dynamical systems theory , cognitive science , neural system , communication , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , mathematics , art , computer network , channel (broadcasting) , physics , quantum mechanics , visual arts , statistics
Humans tend to anticipate events when they synchronize their actions with sound (such as when they clap to music), which has puzzled scientists for decades. What accounts for this anticipation? We review two theoretical mechanisms for synchrony: predictive coding and dynamical systems. Both theories are grounded in neural activation patterns, but there are important distinctions. We contrast their assumptions, their computations, and their musical applications to anticipatory synchronization.