Are We in Time? How Predictive Coding and Dynamical Systems Explain Musical Synchrony

Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2022 Apr;31(2):147-153. doi: 10.1177/09637214211053635. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Abstract

Humans tend to anticipate events when they synchronize their actions with sound (such as when they clap to music), which has puzzled scientists for decades. What accounts for this anticipation? We review two theoretical mechanisms for synchrony: predictive coding and dynamical systems. Both theories are grounded in neural activation patterns, but there are important distinctions. We contrast their assumptions, their computations, and their musical applications to anticipatory synchronization.

Keywords: anticipatory synchronization; coupling; dynamical systems; internal models; predictive coding.