ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the link between musical rhythm and movement and reviews functional brain imaging work, revealing the motor system's involvement in the perception of rhythm and beat. It describes how moving along with a rhythm actually improves perception of that rhythm. The chapter suggests that neural oscillations in the delta and beta frequency bands might constitute a mechanism supporting auditory–motor connectivity, thereby allowing for anticipation and better perception of the events that comprise musical rhythms. It presents that the rising popularity of noninvasive brain stimulation paradigms that probe motor system excitability will provides another angle from which can gain insight about why move to the beat. Perceiving musical rhythms, even in the absence of overt movement, activates brain areas including the supplementary motor area, premotor cortex, cerebellum, and basal ganglia, all of which are traditionally associated with overt movement and motor functions. During rhythm, brain regions do not act in isolation, but rather, in concert as functional networks.
