Listening to music not only triggers familiar movements—like nodding your head or tapping your foot—but also affects the body’s automatic responses. A new study has shown that even blinking can synchronize with the rhythm of a melody, despite blinking usually being considered a completely involuntary process.
More than a hundred volunteers without musical training took part in the experiment. They were asked to listen to excerpts of Johann Sebastian Bach’s chorales, known for their distinct rhythmic structure. While listening, participants wore special sensors that recorded brain activity and eye movements.
The results surprised the researchers: the moments when participants blinked matched the strong beats of the music. At the same time, their brain activity synchronized with the tempo of the composition. To test whether recognition of the melody played a role, the researchers used recordings played in reverse and replaced musical instruments with simple sound signals. The synchronization effect persisted in all cases.
Data analysis showed that the brain responds specifically to the temporal structure of sound, not to familiarity with the piece or its harmony. However, the synchronization effect disappeared when the tempo became too fast, exceeding a certain range.
Additional brain scans using diffusion MRI revealed individual differences. It turned out that the accuracy of blinking in time with the rhythm depends on the state of white matter in the left hemisphere, specifically the development of the superior longitudinal fasciculus, which connects the auditory and parietal regions. The better developed this pathway is, the more precisely a person blinks in sync with music.
In the final part of the experiment, participants were asked to simultaneously search for a red dot on the screen. As soon as their attention shifted to the visual task, the synchronization of blinking with the rhythm disappeared. This confirmed that background focus on the sound is necessary for the effect to occur.
Those whose blinking matched the rhythm most accurately detected errors in the musical tests more quickly. Thus, blinking can serve as an external indicator of how attuned the brain is to processing sound information.
The discovery opens new horizons for diagnosing rhythm perception disorders in people with speech or motor difficulties. This method does not require active participation from the patient and could become an objective tool for doctors.
