Musica Scientia

Special lssue 1999-20OO, 13-28

@ 1999 by ESCOM European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of com m u n ication with special ref erence

to m usic perception and performance

MARC \TITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitr M nchen, Germany

AgsrRRct

Rhythm and tempo are basic constituents of music perception and music
performance. As these temporal characteristics in musical skill are controlled by
mechanisms of the brain, we seek to explain them on the basis of a taxonomy of

temporal processes of the central nervous system. ln the presented model, two
distinct mechanisms are discussed: On a high-frequency level (ca. 30 milliseconds),

the brain creates successive events in perception and motor behaviour. On a lowfrequency level (ca. 3 seconds), a mechanism is responsible for the temporal integration of individual events. These two temporal processes can account for some requirements in music perception and music performance. The highfrequency mechanism enables the perception of temporal order and is involved in

tempo control in musical expression. The low-frequency mechanism binds

individual musical elements into rhythmical Gestalts. These two temporal factors

play an important role in the music performance of musicians playing solo

(subjective timing) or when communicating as participants of a music group (intersubjective timing). ln general, they are temporal fundamentals for inter-personal

communication, or, more specifically,

for mutual musical experience and

the

exchange of information via spoken language.

t*t*ooL,crroN

Time is an essential component of music perceprion and music performance

(Epstein, 1995).More specifically, rhythm and tempo are inrerwoven aspecrs of the temporal characteristics in music. Rhythm constitutes the perceptual Gestah through which we anticipate what might happen and whe n, i.e., early evenrs in a sequence generate expectancies abour evenrs that are going ro occur (Fraisse, 1982; Martin, 1972). Tempo in a musical piece influences the number of occurring evenrs
13

per rime unir or, from a different perspective, the length of time intervals berween rwo musical events. Extreme fast or slow tempo can have a devastating effect on rhythm percepdon. When rempo becomes too slow a listener will lose his sense of rhyrhm or musical morion. This latter effect indicates the existence of temporal constraints in audirory perception that determine musical perception. Thus' to betrer understand temporal aspects in music perception it is important to discuss empirical findings in studies on timing and temporal perception. Temporal factors in perceprion provide the basis for musical perception in its complexiry. Timing plays a fundamental role in musical expression, e.g., when playing a musical insrrumenr; rhe remporal task of the musician is to play precisely, i.e., reducing random errors, and accurately i.e., preventing constant errors (Vos and Ellermann, 1989). Musical performance can also be seen as away of communication berween musicians; in this case, inter-subjective timing, i.e., the synchronisadon berween
musicians is of interest. Furrher questions arise with respect to temporal mechanisms for perception and acrion, as for insrance, listening to the beat of a musical piece. \7e can automatically move to the rhythm by effortlessly copying the temporal structure of the tones

by tapping our foot or by dancing. Theoretically one can assume common

represenrational domains for perception and action which would be an efficient way of controlling sensory-dependent motor behaviour (Prinz, 1997). Specifically on the timing level, common temporal mechanisms for perception and motor behaviour would facilitate the programming of motor actions in relation to temporal changes in the environment. Actually, several independent approaches in time research have disclosed common timing processes in duration judgement tasks and motor tasks where time intervals had to be produced (Ivry and Hazeltine, L995;Tieisman et al., 1992). As coordination of perceived temporal structure and dming of action is a musician's task when playing in synchrony with others one might speculate on a single common temporal mechanism for musical performance, or more general, on a single common temporal mechanism for communicative behaviour.

A rnxoNoMy oF TEMPoRAL

PRocESSING LEvELS

Before discussing derails of such temporal mechanisms, a taxonomy of time experiences should be oudined. Obviously, there is not one time phenomenon but several (e.g., Pppel, l97S).These time phenomena are linked to different temporal ranges. Basically, rwo subjecrive phenomena in time perception are recurrently the perception of succession and the subjected ro experimental investigation - 1984). The former is related to the perception of duration (Block, 1990; Fraisse, temporal order of events, the latter is concerned with the persistence of an event over time and with the interval length between [wo events. An extended taxonomy
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Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication

MARC \VITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

the phenomena of simultaneiry non-simultaneiry, temporal order the subjective present, and duration as elementary experiences (Pppel, 1997;'W'ittmann, 1999). Each of these subjective time experiences is associated with different physical time ranges. In the auditory sysrem, the three basic time experiences of simultaneiry nonsimuhaneity, and remporal order can be evoked with an exPerimental procedure by varying the inrer-stimulus intervals berween rwo short acoustic events. In the experimental setting, a subject is presented with rwo clicks (e.g., with a duration of I millisecond [ms]), one to each ear. Although the rwo stimuli temporally differ in their onser time, their remporal order is not necessarily perceived. In fact the rwo clicks have to be separated by an interval of 2 rc 3 ms before one has the impression

of time

experiences describes

of non-simultanei ry Q.g., Hosokaw a et al., 198 1; Moore, 1993). The temporal order of the rwo events, however, can onlybe indicated reliably-which one of the rwo when the stimuli are separated at least by an interval of ca. 20 clicks came first -1959;Lotze et al., 1999; Mills and Rollman, 1980; Steinbchel et to 40 ms (Hirsh, al., 1996). The so-called fusion threshold separates the impression of simultaneiry (or fusion, when the rwo stimuli subjectively fuse to a single event) and nonsimultaneiry and the order threshold separates the impression of non-simultaneiry and temporal order. \W'ith a different paradigm, order thresholds in the range of Z0 rc 40 ms influenced the detection of the sequence of onsets of rwo complex and long auditory stimuli (Pastore and Farrington, 1996). From these findings one can infer that evenrs over time can only be placed in a temporal relationship to each other when they are separated by an interval of ca. 30 ms. Interestingly, order thresholds for acousric, visual, and tactile stimuli do not vary significantly (Hirsh and Sherrick, 196l). fu the thresholds are approximately in the same time range, the processing srage for temporal order seems to be independent of the sensory system and, thus,
perhaps more centrally localised.

The perceprion of temporal order has theoretically been identified as a basic temporal mechanism in rhe hierarchy of elementary temporal experiences (Pppel, 1978; 1997).In this theory functional system states with a duration of ca. 30 ms are implemented by neuronal oscillations that define the temporal order of events. After the transducrion of a first stimulus, a relaxation oscillation is triggered with a period of 30 ms which is phase-locked to the stimulus. If the second stimulus is processed within this first period, temporal order of the two events cannot be indicared. Only when the second sdmulus is processed in a following period
because the inter-stimulus interval is longer than 30 ms

of the rwo events be identified. \7ith this hypothesised neuronal

can the temporal order mechanism' event

identificarion over time is established. Thus, events are allocated temporally, 'W'ittmann, 1999).In the resulting in their ordinal representation (Pcippel and presented model this oscillator creates the impression of temporal order and is assumed to be located in the left cerebral cortex, as patients with lesions of that hemisphere, in contrast to patients with right-hemispheric lesions who are
15

unimpaired, show much higher order threshold s (e.g., Swisher and Hirsh, 1972; Steinbche| et al., 1996; 1999). This discrereness in remporal processing in steps of 30 ms has also been recorded in motor tasks. t7hen stationary condidons in the experimental situations were provided, frequency distributions of reaction times (Harter and \'Xite, 1968; Jokeit 1990; Pppel, 1968; 1970) and pursuit eye movements (Ptippel and Logorhetis, 1986) showed multimodal characteristics with inter-mode intervals of approximately 30 ms. Additional evidence comes from finger-taPPing studies, where subjects have ro synchronise their finger movements by pressing on a button ro a pacer signal with constant inter-stimulus intervals. This sensorimotor synchronisation rask is quite easily fulfilled by the subjects as the finger taPs are very precisely synchronised to the signals. In fact, a slight asynchrony occurs as the rap onsers occur some tens of milliseconds before the tone onsets. This slight asynchrony goes unnoticed by the subject (fuchersleben and Prinz, L995).In one study, in which every 4th pacer signal was accentuated by increasing the duration of the rone, the subjects performed with most frequent asynchronies of 30 ms. In the frequency histogram, a further maximum was seen in some subjects with asynchronies of 60 ms (Radil et al., 1990). The multimodalities in all of these mentioned studies were explained by central timer operating with a frequency of " ca. 30 Hz, iniriating a moror response every 30 ms (Pcippel, L997).Infering from these dara, it is possible that perception and motor performance on this time level share a common timing mechanism. Independenr of this high-frequency processing in the range of some ten milliseconds, a further timing mechanism binds successive events into perceptual unirs with durations of 2 ro 3 seconds (Block, 1990; Fraisse, 1984; Pppel, 1978; 1997| Fraisse (1984) noted that durations up to 3 seconds ("perception of durarion') were processed by other means than durations that exceeded 3 seconds ("estimarion of duration"). Events of a few seconds are thereafter Processed on the acrual perceprion as a whole. For durations that exceed this limit of 2 rc 3 seconds memory processes musr be involved that link moments that passed with the present. This 3-second integration mechanism has been associated with our subjective experience of "nowness" that by introspection also extends over a few seconds. \fith the rheoredcal framework of this "psychological present" (Fraisse, 1984), empirical evidence has been collecred that shows that percepdon and motor behaviour are segmented into units of the aforementioned time range (for an overview, see 'Wimmann, 1999). During the perception of ambiguous figures like the Necker cube or the Rubin vase auromaric shifts between the rwo perspectives occur at fairly regular inrervals of 3 seconds (G6mez et al., 1995; Steinbchel et al., 1999). \7hen listening to a metronome, a continuous string of acoustic beats with constant intersdmulus inrervals, we perceive units of integrated beats by subjectively accentuating every xth beat (e.g., l-2-3, l-2-3, etc.). \fith lower metronome frequencies the perceived integration units lengthen, but never exceed 3 seconds (Szelag et a1.,1996,
16

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication MARC \(ITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

Fraisse, 1978). This inregration mechanism is probably bound to frontal, mainly lefr-hemispheric, regions of the cortex as patients with lesions in that area have problems ro auromarically integrate the individual events to rhythmic Gatahs
(Szelag et al., 1997).

Motor performance also seems to be segmented into the same remporal unirc and Kien, 1997). In one study, for example, everyday repetitive movemenrs in humans of five different cultures were filmed in natural surroundings and analysed. In a frequency histogram, a clear mode at2 to 3 seconds indicated that rhe duration of the recorded movements mosdy lay in the discussed time range (Schleidr et al., 1987). A srriking demonstration of temporal constraints of the sensorimotor system comes from the aforementioned sensorimotor-synchronisation task. Synchronisation of rhe movement with the sensory signal cannot be maintained when rhe inrer-srimulus intervals exceed about 2 seconds. Typically, reactions to when the signal will rhe signals happen then because the abiliry to anticipate has broken down (Mares et al., 1994). One can infer from this thar the occur capabiliqy of sensorimoror timing is limited to behavioural segments in the time range o[ the "psychological present". From all the referred experiments thar employ qualitacively different measures one can conclude that temporal integration is a general principle of the brain machinery that binds distinct events, identified by the high-frequency mechanism, into perceptual Gestalx, and is also involved in motor programming (Poppel and Vitrmann, L999). This temporal integration mechanism could be strongly tied to frontal regions of the cortex as patients with lesions to those areas show impairments in tasks like the perceptual switching of ambiguous figures or the integration of merronome beacs (Sreinbchel et al., 1999). Rerurning ro the high-frequency processing level, one can speak of the oscillator as a neuronal clock. In the presented model the clock creates the impression of temporal order, but a clock with the same pulse frequency could be also involved in the control of motor behaviour. Clock models are also assumed for explaining the abiliry of duration discriminacion. In cognitive models of an internal clock, a temporal pacemaker produces a series of pulses with a stable frequency. An addirional pulse counrer records the number of pulses during the duration of an event that has to be judged (Zakay, 1993). Interestingly, the frequency of the assumed temporal oscillator underlying time perception has been estimated at 49.5 Hzand has been found to be involved with approximacely the same frequency in the production of temporal intervals (Ti'eisman et al., 1992).The esrimated clock frequency, thus, lies with an inter-pulse interval of 20 ms at the minimum threshold for temporal order judgement. It is, however, only fair to say that there is a debate concerning the way time in perception and accion is represented in the brain. An alternative model, for example, postulates an interval-based representarion (Ir'ry 1996). In this model, temporal processing is noc achieved by a single mechanism as in rhe oscillatory model where different durations are represented by different number of pulses. In interval-based
(see Schleidt
17

models, different durations are processed by disdnct sets of interval timers that are specific for certain duradons. The different time intervals are rePresented, thereafter, by distinct neural assemblies that are located in the cerebellum. However opposed
these models may seem,

it is possible that they complement each other. Different

the cerebellum, the basal neuronal srrucrures associated with timing of behaviour - for time rePresentation and the neurobiological basis ganglia and cortical regions may be involved in tasks on different time ranges oscillarory or inrerval based - fact strong evidence for the involvement of the ('Wirtmann, 1999). There is in cerebellum in timing tasks in the range of several hundred milliseconds (Ivry and Keele, 1989; Penhune et a1.,1998). These empirical findings truly accomplish for a further temporal processing range, located berween the high-frequency level in the milliseconds domain and the low-frequency level of the 3 seconds integration range. One could speculate thar these processing levels should interact at some processing srage. Togerher they probably cover different aspects of temporal tasks, let it be a simple sensorimotor synchronisation task or a complex musical performance, where rempo control, temporal perception and production of time intervals, and temporal inregration of perceptual and motor Gestalts have to be established.

T'ruponer cHARACTERrsrrcs rN Musrc or*io*o*cE AND C.MMUNICATT'E BEHAvIouR As mentioned before, rempo and rhythm are rwo temporal features that musicians have ro conrrol. On the neurobiological basis of the proposed model of a hierarchical organisation of a high-frequency (30 milliseconds domain) and a low-frequency (3 seconds domain) level in temporal processing one can discuss the implications for music performance (see also Pppel, 1989). The high-frequenry brain clock can be assumed to be involved in the perception of succession as well as linked to the remporal organisation of motor behaviour. In our theoretical context of music performance, rempo control of musical expression is based on the coupling on the oscillatory process of the brain. For a performer of music, this neuronal coupling has rwo basic implications: First, as the neural oscillations in this model can be used like the ticking of a clock, the tempo of a piece of music can be maintained. Second, as this brain clock has a relatively high frequency, variations in the periods of the oscillator will have limle effecr on the musical expression, resulting in a constant rempo. This effect could account for the phenomenon that even in long-lasting pieces of music like the movement of a symphony differences in temPo berween the beginning and the end are small. 'We also seem to have a memory for absolute tempo of musical pieces. In most cases, when we sing popular songs from memory, the tempo is so accurate (as compared wirh the original version of a well known folk or pop song) that it lies near the perceprual threshold for tempo sensitiviry (Levitin and Cook, 1996). A
18

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication

MARC VITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

further effect of a cerebral clock comes into play when musicians play together. A neurobiologically predetermined tempo of all the participants can easily lead to the coordination of the individual clocks of the musicians, thus, leading to synchronisation in musical performance. Due to the acuiry in auditory PercePtion
of detecting succession, even slight deviations from the correct tempo of a continuous string of rones are experienced (Hirsh et al., 1990). If one musician, fot example, plays in a slightly different tempo, that is, he is a fraction of a second behind or in front of the others, it wilt lead to an aesthetically displeasing or at least surprising effect (Poppel, 1989). Perceiving succession of individual musical events and keeping tempo, however, are nor sufficient components of temporal mechanisms in musical experience. \When seeing an Events are nor perceived in isolation but are related to other events. objecr comprising of rwo eyes, a nose and a mouth, we do not Perceive them as separared features but as forming a Gestalt, aface we are familiar of or not. In the auditory domain, the metronome that, in physical terms, produces a series of individual beats, evokes in us rhythmical units in which single elements are grouped rogether. Subjecrively, the intervals berween rwo successive groups are longer than the intervals berween rwo beats inside a group and the first element of each grouP appears to be accenruared (Szelag et al., 1996, see also Fraisse [1978] for an overview of older empirical findings). This perceptual grouping is a result of the integrative function of the brain thar can be associated with the phenomenal experience of the subjective presenr. The contents of what we are perceiving is available to us for a few seconds. The temporal boundary for the integration span of 2 rc 3 seconds, thereafter, is determined by the function of the central nervous system. This integration capaciry can be tested by varying the tempo of the successive elements. The faster the rempo becomes the more beats or tones can be integrated into one unit. Additionally, with a faster tempo the subjective units become smaller. In one study, five beats per second resulted in inter-individual integration units berween I and 1.5 seconds.'With I beat per second the groups were automatically formed to rime inrervals of 2 rc 3 seconds (Szelag et al., 1996).This time interval apparently was rhe upper limit of integration as with a slower beat frequency (e.g.,0.5 beats per individual beats in succession were second) no rhythmical grouping occurred - into a rhythm is reached when the perceived. A lower limir for temporal integradon speed is ro high. \7ith a train of tones with inter-onset intervals smaller than 125 ms (8 events per second) rhythmical groups cannot form themselves. One just hears a rapid train of evenrs (Povel, 1984). This result shows how tempo influences rhyrhmic perception and that frequency variations within the borders of I and 8 Hz are sensitive to subjective grouping. The general temporal segmentation mechanism of the brain has also consequences for rhe aesthetics of poerry and music. For example, in a study assessing temporal constraints in poetry, experiments were conducted using poems in different languages that were spoken out aloud. Independently of the language, it took the
19

seconds to recite the individual verse lines (Turner and Pppel, 1988). Diffrent languages mploy various grammatical rules and have such a variery of cultural standards and traditions that it would be only too natural to assume a great variabiliry in the length of verse lines. Vhy not imagine poetic lines rhat exceed this 3 seconds limitation? From the theoretical point of view presented here, one would answer that the 3 second segmentation in poetry is due to the temporal organisation of the brain which integrates information inside the limits of our conscious awareness and determines what is perceived at one moment. Of course, the poets writing poems over the last centuries did not have any explicit speakers ca.

in knowledge of a time structure that had to be created. Their aesthetic feeling - be terms of the temporal boundalis5 implicitly led to verse lines that could recited during the critical time window. The aforementioned experimental investigations concerning the metronome, also form a basis for the understanding of complex musical themes. If we can speak of a general temporal brain process that is involved in the segmentation of perception one should be able to detect significant time units in music, that are rhythmical Gestahs of approximately 3 seconds. Indeed, analyses of musical themes in occidental music have revealed lengths in this time range. As examples of famous themes, the themes of Beethovens's Ftrth Symphony or the Dutchman's theme from \Wagnert The Flying Dutcltman are represenrative (Pppel, 1985; 1989). This accumulative data strongly poinrs to a general rime phenomenon. The biologically predetermined framework cannot be ignored by a composer. \7hen different musical elemenrs are placed within an integration interval a listener will perceive them as belonging together, forming a musical structure. If rwo elements are separated by longer intervals they cannot be recognised as components of a musical theme. Subjective grouping can be iniriated by a more intense stimulus or a tone differing in pitch. The ending of a perceptual group may be evoked with longer tones or longer pause intervals (Fraisse, 1978). The length of the perceptual segment, nevertheless, is limited to the segmentation mechanism of the brain that binds the successive tonal events and, thus, creates a perceived movement. Movement in music is only felt if at least two tonal events occur within a 3'second segment. In contrast, "tonal surfaces" (i.r., created by rhe composer Luigi Nono) can be produced if only one tonal event occurs within one temporal segment. In this case, different aesthetic principles apply to our musical interpretation. Of course, temporal perception in music is not restricted to the rwo temporal processing ranges discussed here which form a basis for musical apprehension. Vhen listening to a piece of music, we also have an impression of longer time intervals that elapsed, for example, berween rwo remarkable musical events. In this case, memory comes into play: The retrospective judgement of longer time intervals is dependent on the amount of information that has been stored in memory. The more changes have happened during the respective time interval, the longer thar interval appears to be (Zakay and Block, 1996). A model

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication MARC \(ITTMANN AND ERNST PIICI

of cognitive processing that is specifically involved in the identification of temporal relacionships of musical structures has been elaborated by Delige (1995). She hypothesises that the temporal course of a piece could be symbolised by . mental line of different musical cues, each representing longer musical structures. These cues could form reference points which temporally localise segments of the piece in their temporal relationship to others. The aforementioned remporal integration process that can be detected in such a variety of tasks can be seen as a general mechanism for inter-personal communication. In the metronome experiment the integration interval varied berween 1.5 and 3 seconds, depending on the metronome frequenry. This shows that we are nor speaking of a physical cime constant of exactly 3 seconds but of a mechanism of a neuro-cognitive machinery that forms units which are describable by an approximare value of 2 to 3 seconds and under certain conditions can slightly vary. In spoken language comprehension a temporally similar frequency effect (as compared with the metronome experiment) is detected. In an experiment, subjects were requested to interrupt recorded speech material for reporting what they heard (Vingfield and Nolan, 1980). For a normal speech rate the subjects interrupted the tape after a mean segment duration of 3 seconds. \When speech was compressed, that is the information was presented with higher frequency, the mean segmenr durations became smaller. This finding confirms all the other evidence that information processing is segmented into 3 second intervals as it reveals integration units which are strikingly similar to the non-verbal metronome experiment. It probably also suggests a general temporal principle in communicadon. As a listener integrates meaning in speech into 3 second segments, the speaker will cluster relevant information into packages of approximately 3 seconds. Communication berween rwo person, thereafter, will be constrained to rhythmic units in speaking and listening. Such communication units can also be detected in the acoustic analysis of mother/infant vocalisations. In the study by Malloch (1999, this issue), vocal exchange berween mocher and baby could intuitively be described as conraining a constant beat, that is, the rwo were communicating on a common timing scale. Detailed spectrograph analysis showed that besides other small-scaled timing segments remporal units of 1.5 to 2 seconds could - elements for the co-ordinated motherbe detected that were interpreted as basic infant vocalisations. In summarising the evidence, one can postulate a general temporal principle of inter-personal communication. As the "psychological present" represents the limics of integration capaciry non-verbal (a musical theme) or verbal (speech with semantic content) information is produced in segments with 3-second lengths. Sending information, as well as receiving information, is bound to these units. The expressive and the perceptual side are both embedded in a temporal framework in which the contents are transmirred. Communication, therefore, can be characterised as an interplay of temporal information segments exchanged
21

between rwo person (or a group of people). These information segments are constrained by the temporal integration mechanism of the brainl.

(1) Address for correspondence: lnstitut fr Medizinische Psychologie Ludwig-Maxi m il ians-Universitt Mnchen
Goethestr. 31 D - 80335 Mnchen
taxz

++49 89 5996 615; tel.: ++49 89 5996 650

e-mail : marc@imp.med.uni-muenchen.de

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication MARC \(ITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

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25

Mecanismos temporales del cerebro como fundamentos de la comunicacidn, con especial referencia a la percepcin e interpretacin musical

Ritmo

y tempo son constituyentes

bsicos de

la percepcin e interpretacin

musicales. Como ambas caracteristicas temporales en cuanto a habilidades musicales son controladas por mecanismos cerebrales, buscamos explicarlas sobre la base de

una taxonomla de los procesos temporales del sistema nervioso central. En el

modelo presentado, se discuten dos mecanismos distintos: en un nivelde frecuencias altas (ca. 30 milisegundos), el cerebro crea sucesivos eventos de comportamiento

perceptivo

y motor; en un nivel de frecuencias

bajas (ca.

3 segundos),

un

mecanismo es responsable de la integracin temporal de acontecimientos individuales.

Estos dos procesos temporales pueden ser tenidos en cuenta para algunos requerimientos de percepcin e interpretacin musicales. El mecanismo de frecuencia alta permite la percepcin de orden temporal y est relacionada con el

control del tempo en la expresin musical. El de frecuencia baja integra elementos

musicales individuales en Gestalts ritmicas. Estos dos factores temporales juegan un

importante papel en la interpretacin musical a solo (temporalizacin subjetiva) o

de grupo (temporalizacin inter-subjetiva). En general, son fundamentales para la comunicacin temporal interpersonal o, ms especificamente, para la experiencia musical mutua y el intercambio de informacin a trav6s del lenguaje hablado.

o I meccanismi temporali del cervello come fondamenti della

comunicazione

con particolare riferimento alla percezione e all'esecuzione della musica

Ritmo e tempo sono fattorifondamentali della percezione e dell'esecuzione musicale. Poich6 queste caratteristiche temporali dell'abilit musicale vengono controllate dai meccanismi cerebrali, abbiamo cercato di spiegarle sulla base di una tassonomia dei

processitemporalidelsistema nervoso centrale. Nel modello qui presentato vengono

discussi due meccanismi distinti: ad un livello di frequenza elevato (ca. 30 millesimi

di secondo) il cervello crea eventi in

successione nella percezione

e nel

comportamento motorio. Ad un basso livello di frequenza (ca.3 secondi) entra in

gioco un meccanismo responsabile dell'integrazione temporale di eventi individuali"

Questi due processi temporali possono spiegare alcune caratteristiche della

percezione e dell'esecuzione musicale.

ll meccanismo relativo alle alte frequenze

rende possibile la percezione dell'ordine temporale ed coinvolto nel controllo del

tempo nell'espressione musicale. ll meccanismo innescato dalle basse frequenze

unisce invece elementi musicali individuali in Gestalten ritmiche. Questi due fattori

temporali hanno un ruolo importante nella performance musicale di un solista (tempo musicale soggettivo) o nella comunicazione tra i partecipanti di un gruppo
26

Temporal mechanisms of the brain as fundamentals of communication

MARC WITTMANN AND ERNST PPPEL

musicale (tempo musicale intersoggettivo). ln generale, essi sono dei fondamentali

temporali per la comunicazione interpersonale, o, pi specificamente, per l'esperienza musicale di gruppo e per lo scambio di informazioni attraverso il
linguaggio parlato.

Les m6canismes temporels c6r6braux, fondements de la

communication

et, singulirement, de la perception et de l'ex6cution musicales

Le rythme et le tempo sont les 6l6ments constitutifs de base de la perception et de

I'ex6cution musicales. Puisque ces caract6ristiques temporelles de I'aptitude musicale sont contrldes par des m6canismes cdrdbraux, nous cherchons les
expliquer sur

la base d'une taxonomie des

processus temporels

du systme

nerveux central. Deux m6canismes distincts sont proposes. Lorsqu'il est en

prsence de frequences dlevdes (quelque 30 millisecondes), le cerveau g6nre une succession d'6vdnements dans le comportement perceptif et moteur. En revanche, dans le cas de fr6quences basses (quelque 3 secondes), il y a int6gration temporelle des 6v6nements isol6s. Ces deux processus temporels peuvent expliquer certaines

des conditions de la perception et de I'ex6cution musicales. Le traitement des

fr6quences 6leves autorise la perception de I'ordre temporel et est sous-jacent

au contrle du tempo dans I'expression musicale. Celui des frdquences

basses

assemble des 6l6ments musicaux distincts en formes rythmiques. Ces deux facteurs

temporels jouent un rle important dans I'excution musicale, qu'il s'agisse de

jouer en so/o (sens du rythme subjectif) ou de dialoguer en tant que partenaires d'un groupe musical (sens du rythme intersubjectif). Bases temporelles de la communication entre les individus, ils sont aussi celles de I'exprience musicale
mutuelle et de l'dchange d'information par le biais du langage parl6.

e Zeitmechanismen des Gehirns als Grundlage der Kommunikation

unter speziellem Bezug auf musikalische Wahrnehmung und Performance

Rhythmus und Tempo sind Crundpfeiler der musikalischen Wahrnehmung und Performance. Da bei musikalischen Fertigkeiten diese zeitlichen Charakteristika durch Mechanismen des Cehirns kontrollied werden, trachten wir, sie auf der Basis
einer Taxonomie temporaler Prozesse des zentralen Nervensystems zu erklren. lm

vorgestellten Modell werden zwei verschiedene Mechanismen diskutiert: Auf einer Hochfrequenzebene (ca. 30ms) schafft das Gehirn bei der Wahrnehmung und

beim motorischen Verhalten aufeinanderfolgende Ereignisse. Auf

einer

Niederfrequenzebene (ca. 3sec) ist ein Mechanismus fr die zeitliche lntegration 27

einzelner Ereignisse verantwortlich. Diese beiden temporalen Prozesse drften fr

einige Erfordernisse beim Wahrnehmen und Ausfhren von Musik verantwortlich

sein. Der Hochfrequenzmechanismus ermglicht die Wahrnehmung der zeitlichen

Ordnung und

ist bei der

musikalischen Ausdrucksgestaltung

an

der

Tempokontrolle beteiligt. Der Niederfrequenzmechanismus verbindet die einzelnen musikalischen Elemente zu rhythmischen Cestalten. Diese beiden Zeitfaktoren spielen eine wichtige Rolle beim solistischen lnstrumentalspiel (subjektives Timing) bzw. bei der Kommunikation der Musiker im Ensemblespiel (intersubjektives

Timing). lm allgemeinen sind diese beiden Mechanismen temporale Grundlagen fr die interpersonelle Kommunikation, im speziellen fr das mutuelle
Musikerleben und den lnformationsaustausch mittels gesprochener Sprache.

28