Biology subjects

Schön, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Schön, D..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Distinct Neural Signatures Underlie Finger Tapping and Walking to Auditory Rhythms

Neural oscillations synchronize with rhythmic stimuli, shaping perception and action. Auditory-motor synchronization (AMS) enhances this process but most evidence comes from finger tapping, an attentionally demanding voluntary behaviour. Whether motor-driven modulation of neural synchronization generalizes to more automatic movements like walking remains unclear. In this study, we used mobile EEG to compare neural synchronization to auditory rhythms during tapping and walking in 40 older male and female participants, manipulating cognitive load (single vs. dual task) and task instructions (synchronize with vs. ignore metronome). EEG components attuned to metronome frequencies were extracted and complementary measures of neural synchronization were computed (phase coupling to the stimulus, power at the stimulus frequency, and the stability of instantaneous frequencies). Both movements enhanced neural synchronization relative to passive listening. Neural synchronization was further increased by instructions to synchronize, but only during tapping. This instruction-facilitating effect was lost in dual tasks. These findings suggest that AMS recruits movement-dependent neural and cognitive mechanisms, depending on where AMS lies on a continuum from voluntary-controlled to automatic forms of coordination, with implications for rhythm-based interventions in aging. Significance statementNeural coupling to stimuli in the environment shape perception and action, but its dependence on movement type and cognitive control is poorly understood. Using mobile EEG, we show that both finger tapping and walking enhance neural coupling to the auditory stimuli, but tapping is uniquely modulated by task factors. Our findings suggest that cortical involvement during rhythmic motor tasks differs for voluntary (tapping) and automatic (walking) behaviours. As gait can move from being mostly automatic to voluntary-controlled (e.g., under heightened cognitive load, in motor disorders), it offers a unique opportunity to study the dynamic interactions between sensory, motor, and cognitive processes supporting neural coupling to auditory stimuli.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Preserved Spontaneous Interpersonal Entrainment during Rhythmic Synchronization in Autism Spectrum Disorder

PurposeInterpersonal entrainment, defined as the tendency of interacting individuals to temporally align their behaviours, is considered a key mechanism supporting social interactions through predictive and multisensory processes. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), characterized by social and communication difficulties, has been associated with atypical predictive and multisensory integration processes, which may affect spontaneous entrainment to others actions during rhythmic interactions. MethodsThe present study investigated spontaneous interpersonal entrainment in 24 autistic and 22 neurotypical young adults using a unidirectional adaptation of the drifting metronomes paradigm developed by Rosso et al. (2021). Participants synchronized their finger tapping with an auditory metronome while either seeing or not seeing a partners hand movements performing the same task at a slightly different tempo. Individual synchronization performance was assessed using asynchrony measures and computational modelling of sensorimotor synchronization, while interpersonal coordination dynamics were quantified using joint recurrence analysis. ResultsVisual exposure to the partners hand movements significantly increased tapping variability while simultaneously enhancing spontaneous interpersonal entrainment. Contrary to previous findings, these effects were comparable across groups, suggesting similar sensitivity to spontaneous low-level interpersonal coupling under stable and predictable conditions. ConclusionOverall, the findings support accounts proposing selective rather than generalized atypicalities in predictive processing and interpersonal entrainment in ASD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

A dual EEG hyperscanning dataset of natural French face-to-face conversation

Conversation is a fundamental human behaviour that requires rapid coordination between speaking, listening, and turn-taking, yet datasets capturing its neural dynamics in natural interaction remain scarce. Hyperscanning EEG is particularly valuable for this purpose because it records both interlocutors simultaneously, enabling the study of speaker-listener coupling, response timing, and dyadic coordination during live exchange. Here we present DUET (Dyadic Understanding, EEG and Turn-taking), a hyperscanning dataset for studying natural French face-to-face conversation. The dataset comprises recordings from 18 dyads, or 36 French-speaking adults, performing the Diapix collaborative spot-the-difference task across eight 4-minute face-to-face conversation blocks. For each participant, EEG was recorded from 36 participants; most recordings used 64-channel EEG, with one pilot dyad recorded using 32 electrodes. The public release includes raw EEG recordings, precomputed ICA decompositions for reuse in downstream preprocessing as well as various features derived from the audio and manually corrected transcripts.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Two Interacting Neural Processes Support Speech Planning during Naturalistic Conversation

Conversation requires speakers to plan their responses while still listening to their partner, yet the neural dynamics supporting this overlap remain unclear. In particular, competing accounts differ on whether behaviourally relevant preparation emerges early during comprehension or only close to speech onset. Here, we recorded EEG from pairs of participants engaged in natural, face-to-face conversation and tested whether neural activity during listening predicts both when speakers begin their response (latency) and how long they speak (duration). Using event-related potentials, oscillatory analyses, and multivariate decoding, we show that pre-speech neural activity carries robust information about upcoming behaviour more than one second before articulation. The strongest and earliest effects tracked response duration, with sustained ERP components and alpha/beta power modulations predicting how long participants would speak, even after controlling for behavioural variables. In contrast, neural predictors of response latency were more temporally restricted and partly aligned with partner turn boundaries. Temporal generalisation analyses further revealed stable neural patterns linking early and late stages of preparation. Together, these findings indicate that conversational planning unfolds during listening and that early neural activity reflects the maintained specification of response extent, followed by later processes related to commitment and initiation. This supports a temporally structured account of turn taking in which preparation involves both early maintenance and late motor engagement.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Asymmetric sampling in human auditory cortex reveals spectral processing hierarchy

Speech perception is mediated by both left and right auditory cortices, but with differential sensitivity to specific acoustic information contained in the speech signal. A detailed description of this functional asymmetry is missing, and the underlying models are widely debated. We analyzed cortical responses from 96 epilepsy patients with electrode implantation in left or right primary, secondary, and/or association auditory cortex. We presented short acoustic transients to reveal the stereotyped spectro-spatial oscillatory response profile of the auditory cortical hierarchy. We show remarkably similar bimodal spectral response profiles in left and right primary and secondary regions, with preferred processing modes in the theta ([~]4-8 Hz) and low gamma ([~]25-50 Hz) ranges. These results highlight that the human auditory system employs a two-timescale processing mode. Beyond these first cortical levels of auditory processing, a hemispheric asymmetry emerged, with delta and beta band ([~]3/15 Hz) responsivity prevailing in the right hemisphere and theta and gamma band ([~]6/40 Hz) activity in the left. These intracranial data provide a more fine-grained and nuanced characterization of cortical auditory processing in the two hemispheres, shedding light on the neural dynamics that potentially shape auditory and speech processing at different levels of the cortical hierarchy.\n\nAuthor summarySpeech processing is now known to be distributed across the two hemispheres, but the origin and function of lateralization continues to be vigorously debated. The asymmetric sampling in time (AST) hypothesis predicts that (1) the auditory system employs a two-timescales processing mode, (2) present in both hemispheres but with a different ratio of fast and slow timescales, (3) that emerges outside of primary cortical regions. Capitalizing on intracranial data from 96 epileptic patients we sensitively validated each of these predictions and provide a precise estimate of the processing timescales. In particular, we reveal that asymmetric sampling in associative areas is subtended by distinct two-timescales processing modes. Overall, our results shed light on the neurofunctional architecture of cortical auditory processing.

neuroscience↗