Name:Agnes Zagala

School/Affiliation:University of Montreal

Co-Authors:Nicholas E.V. Foster, Floris T. van Vugt, Fabien Dal Maso, Simone Dalla Bella

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Abstract:

Walking to the beat of an auditory stimulus seems effortless for most humans. However, recent studies suggest significant individual differences in the spontaneous tendency to synchronize to a beat. Some individuals adapt their walking pace to the beat while others show little or no adjustment. However, little is known about the determinants of individual differences in spontaneous gait synchronization. To fill this gap, we tested 60 young adults using the Ramp protocol (Zagala et al., in press), which assesses spontaneous or voluntary gait adaptation to a tempo change in an auditory rhythmic stimulus. Spontaneous or voluntary adaptation is achieved by varying the instructions to the participants. We assessed individual differences in the voluntary and spontaneous responses to the stimulus change using the Response Score (i.e., reflecting the discrepancy between inter-step time intervals and stimulus tempo). We also tested participants’ rhythmic abilities and executive functioning. The vast majority of participants could voluntarily adapt their gait to the tempo change when instructed. However, they exhibited significant individual differences in their response to the stimulus when instructed to walk naturally (spontaneous synchronization). Distinct measures of rhythmic abilities predicted the Response Score for voluntary or spontaneous gait synchronization. Additionally, executive functions predicted the Response Score for voluntary but not spontaneous synchronization, whereas gait measures predicted spontaneous synchronisation but not voluntary. These findings suggest that the two types of synchronization could be supported by different timing mechanisms.