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Unraveling the finding of 1/f β noise in self-paced and synchronized tapping: a unifying mechanistic model

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Abstract

1/f β noise has been revealed in both self-paced and synchronized tapping sequences, without being consistently taken into consideration for the modeling of underlying timing mechanisms. In this study we characterize variability, short-range, and long-range correlation properties of asynchronies and inter-tap intervals collected in a synchronization tapping experiment, attesting statistically the presence of 1/f β noise in asynchronies. We verify that the linear phase correction model of synchronization tapping in its original formulation cannot account for the empirical long-range correlation properties. On the basis of previous accounts of 1/f β noise in the literature on self-paced tapping, we propose an extension of the original synchronization model by modeling the timekeeping process as a source of 1/f β fluctuations. Simulations show that this ‘1/f-AR synchronization model’ accounts for the statistical properties of empirical series, including long-range correlations, and provides an unifying mechanistic account of 1/f β noise in self-paced and synchronization tapping. This account opens the original synchronization framework to further investigations of timing mechanisms with regard to the serial correlation properties in performed time intervals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sport Sciences, EA 2991, “Motor Efficiency and Deficiency”, University Montpellier 1, 700 avenue du Pic saint Loup, 34090, Montpellier, France

    Kjerstin Torre & Didier Delignières

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  1. Kjerstin Torre
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  2. Didier Delignières
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Correspondence to Kjerstin Torre.

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Torre, K., Delignières, D. Unraveling the finding of 1/f β noise in self-paced and synchronized tapping: a unifying mechanistic model. Biol Cybern 99, 159–170 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-008-0247-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-008-0247-8

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