ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5894-4624
Current Organisation
Maastricht University
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Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 09-03-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.08.531723
Abstract: Considerable debate surrounds syntactic processing similarities in language and music. Yet few studies have investigated how syntax interacts with meter considering that metrical regularity varies across domains. Furthermore, there are reports on in idual differences in syntactic and metrical structure processing in music and language. Thus, a direct comparison of in idual variation in syntax and meter processing across domains is warranted. In a behavioral (Experiment 1) and EEG study (Experiment 2), participants engaged in syntactic processing tasks with sentence- and melody stimuli that were more or less metrically regular, and followed a preferred or non-preferred (but correct) syntactic structure. We further employed a range of cognitive diagnostic tests, parametrically indexed verbal- and musical abilities using a principal component analysis, and correlated cognitive factors with the behavioral and ERP results (Experiment 3). Based on previous results in the language domain, we expected that a regular meter would facilitate the syntactic integration of non-preferred syntax. While syntactic discrimination was better in regular than irregular meter conditions in both domains (Experiment 1), a P600 effect indicated different integration costs during the processing of syntactic complexities in the two domains (Experiment 2). Metrical regularity altered the P600 response to preferred syntax in language while it modulated non-preferred syntax processing in music. Moreover, experimental results yielded within-domain in idual differences, and identified continuous metrics of musical ability more beneficial than grouping musicians or non-musicians (Experiment 3). These combined results suggest that the meter-syntax interface differs uniquely in how it forms syntactic preferences in language and music.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 23-12-2022
Abstract: Converging evidence points towards a link between musical rhythm and linguistic syntax processing. Several potentially shared cognitive mechanisms and overlapping brain regions have been proposed to account for these findings. The present study explores the hypothesis that a domain-general cognitive system responsible for hierarchical structure building constitutes one such component. In two experiments, French-speaking adults listened to rhythmically regular, irregular or silent primes before completing a grammaticality judgement task on Jabberwocky sentences. Both experiments showed a priming effect only in the first three sentences after priming. Experiment 1 (block design) showed a disadvantage of the irregular condition compared to both other conditions. Experiment 2 (mixed design) showed an advantage in the regular condition compared to the irregular condition. Across the two experiments, grammaticality judgement performance correlated with rhythm discrimination. These findings provide evidence for a domain-general cognitive network responsible for hierarchical structure building in rhythm and language processing.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: Germany
No related grants have been discovered for Sonja Kotz.