Fluently Grooving: Investigating neural and behavioural indices of processing fluency in complex auditory rhythms
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The internal representation and prediction of temporal regularities are central processes in music listening. Processing fluency – the ease with which sensory input is perceptually organized – is thought to drive rhythm-evoked pleasure and the desire to move, which may arise via predictive mechanisms. It remains unclear, however, whether fluency can be actively facilitated in rhythmically complex music, and which psychophysiological signals index it: cortical tracking of external periodicities, or motor-supported internal beat representation. We tested whether processing fluency of complex polymetric rhythms increases with a metrical prior (Prime; accented count-in) or enhanced beat salience (Pulse; superimposed accents). While 42 participants listened to polymetric drum grooves, we measured electroencephalography (EEG; neural entrainment and sensorimotor beta/mu desynchronization), facial electromyography (EMG; zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii), and ratings of beat strength, pleasure, desire to move, and complexity. Pulse significantly enhanced perceived beat strength, pleasure, and the desire to move without affecting complexity, while Prime did not yield any significant effects on the neural or subjective measures. Beta- and mu-desynchronization – but not neural entrainment – were significantly associated with subjective ratings: beta-desynchronization tracked pleasure, desire to move, and beat strength, whereas mu-desynchronization related more selectively to the desire to move and to lower perceived complexity. Corrugator activity was associated with reduced pleasure, desire to move, and beat strength, while zygomaticus activity showed no reliable associations. These findings suggest that subjective fluency emerges not simply from resonance with external periodicities, but from the stability of internally generated beat representations supported by motor system involvement.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212421918