{
  "abstract": "Beat perception, the ability to perceive and anticipate a regular pulse in music, is thought to depend on the basal ganglia. Dopaminergic signaling is a candidate mechanism given its prominence in basal ganglia circuitry and established function in encoding temporal predictions. Parkinson's disease (PD) provides a model for studying dopaminergic contributions to beat perception. To test the hypothesis that higher dopaminergic tone is associated with better beat perception, we conducted a study in PD patients (n=55) and matched controls (n=53). Participants performed a musical beat perception task, the Beat Drop Alignment Test (BDAT). They also completed a non-timing control task measuring musical pitch perception, the Mistuning Perception Test (MPT). We identified a double dissociation in PD patients: daily dopamine dose was associated with beat perception (r=.37, p=.005) but not pitch perception (r=.12, p=.397), while musical background was associated with pitch perception (r=.55, p<.001) but not beat perception (r=.16, p=.236). Results remained consistent when controlling for disease duration and age. This dissociation suggests the effect of dopamine is specific to beat perception and not reflective of a general improvement in auditory processing. High-dopamine patients outperformed both low-dopamine patients and age-matched controls, and this difference was driven by better detection of on-beat than off-beat events. Together, these results suggest that dopamine is associated with enhanced beat perception, potentially through modulation of temporal attention to expected beat times.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "UCLA"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "B. Yosef"
    },
    {
      "name": "B. Balamurugan"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Miura"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Cross"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6nrqtaeekz6wk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.08.749528",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.08.749528v1.full",
  "id": "6nrqtaeekz6wk",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.08.749528v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Neuroscience and Music Perception"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213044391",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.08.749528v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-08",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6nrqtaeekz6wk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:20Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.08.749528",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.08.749528v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Dopaminergic tone predicts rhythmic temporal attention in Parkinson's disease",
  "title_text": "Dopaminergic tone predicts rhythmic temporal attention in Parkinson's disease",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6nrqtaeekz6wk",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}