Neurodynamics of Rhythmic Communication
Behavioral studies have established the role of rhythm in perceiving, attending to, and coordinating with rhythmic auditory stimuli. Recent neurophysiological and neuroimaging results have demonstrated that cortical rhythms entrain to temporally structured acoustic signals. Moreover, entrainment of neuronal oscillations can function as a mechanism of attentional selection. This talk will explore the idea that certain rhythms tap into brain dynamics at an appropriate time scale to cause the nervous system to resonate to the rhythmic patterns. I will focus on amplitude and phase dynamics of cortical oscillations, and discuss the role of neural responses at multiple frequencies. The findings are cast into a mathematical theory using the tools of nonlinear dynamical systems. The resulting neurodynamic model is used to predict certain facts about neurophysiology and behavior. I will argue that cortical resonance may underlie the ability to communicate using complex, temporally structured sequences such as music and speech.