Dopamine modulation of motor and implicit learning contributions to auditory temporal attention
Abstract
Auditory periodic temporal attention operates optimally around 1.5 Hz when temporal structure is judged explicitly. Synchronized rhythmic movements further enhance its efficacy, an effect thought to depend on basal ganglia dopamine, crucial for both motor and temporal processing. However, whether dopamine underpins the relationship between auditory temporal attention and motor activity remains unclear. Using an auditory temporal attention task in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients ON versus OFF the dopaminergic medication L-DOPA, alongside healthy controls, we found no evidence that dopamine modulates the ∼1.5 Hz optimal sampling rate of auditory temporal attention. However, dopamine enables motor synchronization to the auditory stream and is hence crucial for the motor benefits of auditory temporal attention. Performing the first session ON L-DOPA also improved performance in the following session. These findings underscore a selective role for dopamine in audio-motor interaction, with no evidence that the intrinsic rhythm of auditory attention depends on dopamine.
Related
- Distinct basal ganglia contributions to learning from implicit and explicit value signals in perceptual decision-making
- Neuronal FICD shapes motivated behavior through modulation of dopamine receptor dynamics
- Spatiotemporal characterization of corticolimbic dopamine and noradrenaline signaling and affective state modulation by mfb stimulation
- Dissociable norepinephrine and dopamine representations during strategic decision-making and reward learning
- A systematic investigation reveals dissociable effects of ageing on implicit and explicit components of sensorimotor learning
BibTeX
@article{zalta2026dopamine,
title = {{Dopamine modulation of motor and implicit learning contributions to auditory temporal attention}},
author = {Arnaud Zalta and Lena-Franziska Spitz and Alfons Schnitzler and Benjamin Morillon and Esther Florin},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117541},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05776289v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Dopamine modulation of motor and implicit learning contributions to auditory temporal attention
AU - Arnaud Zalta
AU - Lena-Franziska Spitz
AU - Alfons Schnitzler
AU - Benjamin Morillon
AU - Esther Florin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117541
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05776289v1
AB - Auditory periodic temporal attention operates optimally around 1.5 Hz when temporal structure is judged explicitly. Synchronized rhythmic movements further enhance its efficacy, an effect thought to depend on basal ganglia dopamine, crucial for both motor and temporal processing. However, whether dopamine underpins the relationship between auditory temporal attention and motor activity remains unclear. Using an auditory temporal attention task in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients ON versus OFF the dopaminergic medication L-DOPA, alongside healthy controls, we found no evidence that dopamine modulates the ∼1.5 Hz optimal sampling rate of auditory temporal attention. However, dopamine enables motor synchronization to the auditory stream and is hence crucial for the motor benefits of auditory temporal attention. Performing the first session ON L-DOPA also improved performance in the following session. These findings underscore a selective role for dopamine in audio-motor interaction, with no evidence that the intrinsic rhythm of auditory attention depends on dopamine.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -