Name: bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task
Uploaded: 2017-09-21T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task at JoVE.com

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31371129).

This protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Psychology Department of Sun Yat-Sen University.
NOTE: A custom program &#34;BouncingBall&#34;9 is provided for accomplishing this protocol. Extracting the file &#34;BouncingBall.zip&#34; generates a directory &#34;BouncingBall&#34;, which contains auditory and visual stimuli files (see Section 1 below), a script &#34;BouncingBall_run.m&#34; for programming of stimulus presentation and response recording (s...

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This protocol illustrates how to examine a bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task. Given its comparable synchronization performance to that of auditory tones, the bouncing ball is of particular importance for addressing the current research topic of whether SMS is modality specific. 
The critical step in the current protocol is to introduce the uniformly varying velocity of the bouncing ball, and step-by-step instructions are provided to carry out t...

Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) refers to the coordination of movements (e.g., finger taps) with an external rhythm, and is canonically studied using a simple metronome synchronization task in which the subject is required to tap a finger along with an isochronous sequence1,2. The superiority of the auditory over visual modality in metronome synchronization has been established for over a century: synchronization is much more stable to an auditory sequence consisting of auditory tones (Figure 1A) than to a visual sequence consisting of visual flashes (Figure 1B)1. This auditory advantage of metronome synchronization, however, has recently been challenged by studies employing periodically moving visual stimuli3,4,5,6 (note that periodically moving visual stimuli refer to continuous movements). Hove et al. used a visual sequence composed of an up-down bar moving with a constant velocity, and found that synchronization of the up-down bar was more stable than synchronization of visual flashes, but was still less stable than synchronization of auditory tones3,6. Iversen et al. employed a bouncing ball that had a velocity varied according to a rectified sinusoid, and showed that synchronization of the bouncing ball was close to synchronization of auditory tones5. More recently, Gan et al. used a bouncing ball that had a uniformly varying velocity (i.e., simulating the effect of gravity) (Figure 1C), and found that synchronization of the bouncing ball was not less stable than synchronization of auditory tones4.
The purpose of the current protocol is to introduce a procedure to apply a bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task, as described in Gan et al.4 The metronome synchronization task includes an auditory sequence composed of auditory tones (AT sequence, Figure 1A) and a visual sequence composed of visual flashes (VF sequence, Figure 1B), which are widely adopted in SMS studies1. The third type of sequence in the task is a visual sequence consisting of the bouncing ball (VB sequence, Figure 1C). Whereas modality-specific mechanisms have long been thought to underlay SMS, such as tighter connections between the auditory and motor cortices than between the visual and motor cortices2, whether SMS is modality specific has recently drawn much research attention1,7. The bouncing ball as introduced in the present protocol is particularly useful for addressing the modality issue because of comparable synchronization performances of the bouncing ball and auditory tones. Moreover, metronome synchronization can be flexibly performed over a limited range of IOI (100-1,800 ms)8. To illustrate the application of the bouncing ball for different IOIs, the current protocol includes a 600-ms IOI (which is approximately the most preferred IOI), and a 900-ms IOI.
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/56205/56205fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: Illustration of the stimuli. The subject taps along with an isochronous sequence, which is composed of auditory tones (A: the AT sequence), visual flashing balls (B: the VF sequence), or a visual bouncing ball (C: the VB sequence). In C, the velocity and trajectory of the bouncing ball are plotted as functions of time and are indicated by blue and green lines, respectively. The movement distance of the bouncing ball is 9.2 mm and the peak velocity at the bouncing point (i.e., at the lowest ball position) is 0.061 mm/ms. Eight events in a 600-ms IOI sequence are shown. <a href="//cloudflare.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/56205/56205fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

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bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task

Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS), a fundamental human ability to coordinate movements with external rhythms, has long been thought to be modality specific. In the canonical metronome synchronization task that requires tapping a finger along with an isochronous sequence, a well-established finding is that synchronization is much more stable to an auditory sequence consisting of auditory tones than to a visual sequence consisting of visual flashes. However, recent studies have shown that periodically moving visual stimuli can substantially improve synchronization compared with visual flashes. In particular, synchronization of a visual bouncing ball that has a uniformly varying velocity was found to be not less stable than synchronization of auditory tones. Here, the current protocol describes the application of the bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task. The usage of the bouncing ball in sequences with different inter-onset intervals (IOI) is included. The representative results illustrate synchronization performance of the bouncing ball, as compared with the performances of auditory tones and visual flashes. Given its comparable synchronization performance to that of auditory tones, the bouncing ball is of particular importance for addressing the current research topic of whether modality-specific mechanisms underlay SMS.

One of the best-known results in SMS studies is that metronome synchronization is much more stable to an auditory sequence consisting of auditory tones than to a visual sequence consisting of visual flashes1, suggesting modality-specific mechanisms of SMS2. However, recent studies have shown that periodically moving visual stimuli can substantially improve synchronization compared to visual flashes3,<sup cl...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task at JoVE.com

Bouncing Ball with a Uniformly Varying Velocity in a Metronome Synchronization Task

The purpose of this protocol is to introduce the application of a bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task.

Sensorimotor synchronization (SMS), a fundamental human ability to coordinate movements with external rhythms, has long been thought to be modality ...

The overall goal of this protocol is to introduce the application of a bouncing ball with uniformly varying velocity in a metronome synchronization task. This method can help answer key questions in the field of sensory motor synchronization and timing processing, such as whether sensory motor synchronization is modality specific. The main advantage of this technique is that synchronization of the introduced visual bouncing ball is comparable to synchronization of auditory tones.Demonstrating the procedure will be Liying Zhan, a grad student from our laboratory. Begin by asking the subject to sit in front of a computer screen with a 60 centimeter viewing distance and have them put on a headset. Provide the subject with a written informed consent form to sign, followed by the experimental instructions explaining the metronome synchronization task.Next, open the experimental software on the computer. Start a practice session to allow the subject to become familiar with the 600 millisecond inter-onset interval or IOI sequences. After the subject has completed the practice trials, instruct them that the experimental session will begin next.Next, type Bouncingball_run with the AT parameters in the Command window and then press the Enter key to begin the 600 millisecond IOI AT sequence. Watch the subject tap on a keyboard key using the index finger in synchrony with the tones in the AT sequence. Next, type Bouncingball_run with the VF parameters in the Command window and then press the Enter key to begin the 600 millisecond IOI VF sequence.Watch the subject tap on a keyboard key using the index finger in synchrony with the flashing balls. Lastly, type Bouncingball_run with the VB parameters in the Command window and then press the Enter key to begin the 600 millisecond IOI VB sequence. Watch the subject tap on a keyboard key using the index finger in synchrony with the moments when the bouncing ball moves to the lowest position.Finally, repeat each of the AT VF and VB sequences with a 900 millisecond IOI. After the subject has completed the experiment, thank them for their time and escort them out of the testing room. The results from this experiment indicated that for both 600 millisecond and 900 millisecond IOI's, the synchronization of the bouncing ball was much more stable then synchronization of visual flashes.Further, the stability of the bouncing ball was not less stable than synchronization of auditory tones. When attempting this procedure, it's important to remember that the usage of bouncing balls should be limited for IOI's longer than 300 milliseconds because the bouncing ball is a 300 milliseconds IOI is unnaturally fast to tap. After its development, this technique paved the way for researchers in the field of sensory motor synchronization and timing processing to explore the coordination of timing in the sensory and motor cortices.After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to carry out the synchronization task by employing the bouncing ball with a uniformly varying velocity.

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