Investigating Music Listening in Human and Non-Human Primates

The NeuroSchool PhD Program of Aix-Marseille University (France) has launched its annual calls for PhD contracts for students with a master's degree in a non-French university and for  international co-supervised PhDs.

This project is one of the proposed projects. Not all proposed projects will be funded, check our website for details.

State of the Art: Humans spontaneously synchronize to musical rhythms and experience a spontaneous wanting-to-move experience, termed groove, when listening to musical stimuli. This process relies on delta-range (~1-3 Hz) dynamics along the dorsal auditory pathway, which connects auditory and motor cortices. Studies indicate that predictive timing —the ability to anticipate future events— is a fundamental function of this pathway. While non-human primates (NHP) exhibit temporal prediction abilities, they do not spontaneously move to music. Recent findings suggest that variations in auditory-motor coupling could account for this discrepancy. However, the extent to which NHPs process rhythmic structures and experience groove remains an open question.

Objectives:

• Acquire neurophysiological activity in humans and NHPs during passive music listening.
• Investigate the neural correlates of auditory rhythmic processing in both species.
• Investigate the shared and distinct neural mechanisms underlying predictive timing in humans and NHPs.
• Assess whether NHPs show neural markers of groove despite the absence of overt movement.

Methods:

• Human neurophysiology: Humans will be exposed to rhythmic stimuli varying in syncopation (=temporal predictability), while their intracranial EEG activity will be recorded. Recordings will occur at the epilepsy unit of APHM.
• NHP neurophysiology: NHPs will be exposed to the same rhythmic stimuli, while their neurophysiological activity will be recorded. Recordings will occur at INT.
• Computational Modeling: Neurodynamic and Bayesian models will be used to estimate intermediate variables explaining the relation between syncopation and the wanting-to-move feeling (Zalta et al., 2024; Cannon 2021).

Expected Results:

• Identification of neural signatures related to predictive timing in the dorsal auditory pathway of humans and NHPs.
• Evidence for or against implicit groove perception in NHPs despite the absence of overt movement.
• Insights into the evolutionary basis of rhythmic entrainment and its connection to motor systems.

Feasibility: Approval for human studies is currently pending ethical review. Ethical approval for NHP studies has already been obtained (2016060618508941).

Within Aix Marseille Université, NeuroMarseille brings together 8 research laboratories and NeuroSchool, a graduate school in neuroscience, to increase the attractiveness of the university, international collaborations, interdisciplinarity, links with the clinical and industrial worlds and the integration of students into professional life. 

Launched in July 2018, NeuroSchool unifies and harmonizes the training of the third year of the Bachelor of Life Sciences (Neuroscience track), the Master's and the PhD in Neuroscience. 

• Master's degree from a non-French university in neuroscience or related field
• Fluent in English

• Background in neuroscience, cognitive science, or a related field.
• Experience with neurophysiological experiments in humans and/or NHP.
• Strong analytical skills, including signal processing, statistical analyses and computational modeling.
• Interest in music cognition, rhythm perception, and comparative neuroscience