Sonja Kotz

Time and rhythm matter in music and speech

The influence of time and rhythm in music is clearly recognized but there is less clear evidence on their impact in speech and auditory language research (see Kotz & Schwartze, 2010; Kotz et al., 2018). This is surprising as time and rhythm (i) play a significant role in speech and language learning, (ii) can compensate developmental and acquired speech and language disorders, and (iii) further our understanding of subcortical contributions to linguistic and non-linguistic functions. More specifically, recent neuroimaging and clinical evidence has confirmed the contributions of classical motor control areas (cerebellum (CE), basal ganglia (BG), supplementary motor area (SMA)) in timing, rhythm, music, and speech perception (Chen et al., 2008; Grahn et al., 2007; Geiser et al., 2009; Kotz et al., 2009; Kotz & Schwartze, 2011; Kotz et al., 2018). We propose that serial order and temporal precision are shared mechanisms in simple and complex motor behavior (e.g., Salinas, 2009), but also in higher order cognitive functions such as speech and language (Kotz & Schwartze, 2010; 2015; 2016). I will present behavioral and neuroimaging evidence on the role of timing and rhythm in music and speech, and the compensation thereof in clinical populations. This empirical work will be discussed within a cortico-subcortical framework for speech and auditory language processing.

Sonja is affiliated with Maastricht University, The Netherlands, see her website.