EEG Entrainment to Non-Speech Rhythmic Patterns Associated with Dimensions of Language Performance
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia (DLX) affects 5-12% of the global population and impairs learning to read. Its biological basis, particularly the difficulties observed in oral phonological tasks, remains debated. Entrainment, the coupling of brain oscillations to speech rhythms, is essential for encoding phonological representations. We investigated whether brain entrainment to non-speech rhythms could predict DLX in 48 participants listening to white noise amplitude-modulated at rates matching Spanish speech units. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) signals yielded accurate DLX prediction for the 40 Hz stimulus using the Heights Ratio PAC measure (balanced accuracy 0.929, p = 0.0069, in the best case), indicating a stronger phonemic entrainment deficit in dyslexic individuals. Regression analysis in control (CTL) participants showed a strong dependence between reading performance scores and greater entrainment in language-associated brain regions. In particular, participants with poorer phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, or rapid automatized naming showed greater right-hemisphere entrainment to the 40 Hz stimulus. This finding adds evidence for the hemispheric compensatory mechanisms hypothesized in the literature. In conclusion, our methodology identifies dyslexia-specific entrainment patterns near language-associated brain regions, together with compensatory entrainment in right-hemisphere areas.
Related
- Categorical rhythmic patterns do not predict song preference in zebra finches
- Characterizing rhythmic wheel-turning behavioral patterns in cockroaches Rhyparobia maderae using machine learning
- PlasmoRhythm: A comprehensive database for malaria-associated rhythmic transcripts, proteins, and metabolites
- GROND: automated characterization of periodic and rhythmic EEG patterns
- Acute fentanyl induces opposing directions of changes in tonic and phasic dopamine release patterns and impairs Pavlovian task performance
BibTeX
@misc{martinezmurcia2026entrainment,
title = {{EEG Entrainment to Non-Speech Rhythmic Patterns Associated with Dimensions of Language Performance}},
author = {Francisco J. Martínez-Murcia and Nicolás J. Gallego-Molina and Marco A. Formoso and Andrés Ortiz},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.13419},
eprint = {2610.13419},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13419},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - EEG Entrainment to Non-Speech Rhythmic Patterns Associated with Dimensions of Language Performance
AU - Francisco J. Martínez-Murcia
AU - Nicolás J. Gallego-Molina
AU - Marco A. Formoso
AU - Andrés Ortiz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.13419
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13419
AB - Developmental dyslexia (DLX) affects 5-12% of the global population and impairs learning to read. Its biological basis, particularly the difficulties observed in oral phonological tasks, remains debated. Entrainment, the coupling of brain oscillations to speech rhythms, is essential for encoding phonological representations. We investigated whether brain entrainment to non-speech rhythms could predict DLX in 48 participants listening to white noise amplitude-modulated at rates matching Spanish speech units. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) signals yielded accurate DLX prediction for the 40 Hz stimulus using the Heights Ratio PAC measure (balanced accuracy 0.929, p = 0.0069, in the best case), indicating a stronger phonemic entrainment deficit in dyslexic individuals. Regression analysis in control (CTL) participants showed a strong dependence between reading performance scores and greater entrainment in language-associated brain regions. In particular, participants with poorer phonemic awareness, reading comprehension, or rapid automatized naming showed greater right-hemisphere entrainment to the 40 Hz stimulus. This finding adds evidence for the hemispheric compensatory mechanisms hypothesized in the literature. In conclusion, our methodology identifies dyslexia-specific entrainment patterns near language-associated brain regions, together with compensatory entrainment in right-hemisphere areas.
ER -