Rhythm & Brains Lab

Research

Musical rhythm is a cross-cultural, non-verbal means of communication that has the power to make us move. Understanding the neural processing of musical rhythm can provide key insight at the intersection between basic neuroscience research, humanities and the arts. It is also increasingly proven successful to develop effective strategies for the functional evaluation and rehabilitation of pathological conditions as diverse as hearing impairment, cochlear implants, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

Our goal is to understand how the human brain makes us able to perceive and categorize rhythm, and engage in cultural practice where rhythms are produced. Key questions that we address in our research are how this ability for rhythm develops across the lifespan from birth, and how it is shaped by culture, individual differences, or body movement. Moreover, we investigate how our ability for musical rhythm is embodied in a network of brain areas, and how entraining to musical rhythm can help brain-damaged patients to recover from sensory or motor deficits.

To address these fascinating questions, we use functional neuroimaging techniques (scalp and intracerebral electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging) combined with novel signal processing and statistical approaches to selectively capture brain activity in response to rhythmic inputs conveyed through sounds, visual displays, vibrations or movement of the body, or a multisensory combination of those inputs.

The Rhythm & Brains Lab is an enthusiastic and highly diverse group currently hosting post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, and master's students. The team is sponsored by local, national and international funding bodies including ERC, FNRS and UCLouvain, in collaborations with colleagues within and outside Europe.

Principal investigators

NOZARADAN Sylvie

Postdoctoral fellows

BARBERO Francesca

PhD students

Internal collaborator:

COLLIGNON Olivier (UCLouvain)

External collaborators

BATTAL Ceren (University of Coimbra, Portugal)
BLENKMANN Alejandro (RITMO Research Center, University of Oslo, Norway)
DANIELSEN Anne (RITMO Research Center, University of Oslo, Norway)
GUERIN Ségolène (Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Université de Lille, France)
JACOBY Nori (Cornell University, USA, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany)
KELLER Peter (Aarhus University, Denmark)
LENC Tomas (San Sebastian-Donostia, Spain)
MERCHANT Hugo (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico)
POLAK Rainer (RITMO Research Center, University of Oslo, Norway)
ROSSION Bruno - JONAS Jacques (CHU Nancy, France)
VARLET Manuel (Western Sydney University, Australia)

Intracerebral recordings of human brain activity in response to rhythm
Culture-driven neural plasticity of rhythm processing
How sensory modalities shape rhythm processing
How body movement shapes rhythm processing
Rhythm processing in non-hearing people
Rhythm categorization and machine learning approaches
Neurodevelopment of rhythm processing in humans
Cross-species differences in rhythm processing

Culture in psychology and neuroscience: Concepts, relevance, and empirical evidence in rhythm perception. Rainer Polak, Anne Danielsen, Nori Jacoby, Lara Pearson, Samuel Horlor, Stéphane Aubinet, Justin London, Sylvie Nozaradan. 2026. PsyArXiv https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/sqbzn_
Revealing rhythm categorization in human brain activity. FM Barbero, T Lenc, N Jacoby, R Polak, M Varlet, S Nozaradan. Science advances 11 (31), eadu9838.
Infants show enhanced neural responses to musical meter frequencies beyond low‐level features. T Lenc, V Peter, C Hooper, PE Keller, D Burnham, S Nozaradan. Developmental Science 26 (5), e13353
Mapping between sound, brain and behaviour: Four-level framework for understanding rhythm processing in humans and non-human primates. T Lenc, H Merchant, PE Keller, H Honing, M Varlet, S Nozaradan. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376 (1835), 20200325.
Neural tracking of the musical beat is enhanced by low-frequency sounds. T Lenc, PE Keller, M Varlet, S Nozaradan. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (32), 8221-8226

Publications

2025
- Article de journal
  
  Lenoir, C., Lenc, T., Polak, R., & Nozaradan, S. (2025). Behavior-Relevant Periodized Neural Representation of Acoustic But Not Tactile Rhythm in Humans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 45(46). https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0664-25.2025 (Original work published 2025)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/265597
- Lenc, T., Lenoir, C., Keller, P. E., Polak, R., Mulders, D., & Nozaradan, S. (2025). Measuring self-similarity in empirical signals to understand musical beat perception. European Journal of Neuroscience, 61(2), e16637. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.16637 (Original work published 2025)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/242385
2024
- Article de journal
  
  Barbero, F., Lenc, T., Jacoby, N., Polak, R., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2024). Revealing rhythm categorization in human brain activity. Science advances. Published. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu9838 (Original work published 2024)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/265649
2023
- Article de journal
  
  Varlet, M., Nozaradan, S., Schmidt, R. C., & Keller, P. E. (2023). Neural tracking of visual periodic motion. European Journal of Neuroscience, 57(7), 1081-1097. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15934 (Original work published 2023)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/217144
- Papier de conférence
  
  Lenc, T., Jonas, J., Rossion, B., Colnat-Coulbois, S., & Nozaradan, S. (2023). Intracerebral recordings reveal emphasized representation of musical meter across auditory and sensory-motor associative areas of the human brain. Rhythm Production and Perception Workshop, Nottingham, UK.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/28610
- Barbero, F., Lenc, T., Jacoby, N., & Nozaradan, S. (2023). Capturing categorical representation of rhythmic patterns using electroencephalography. Timing Research Forum TRF3, Lisbon, Portugal.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/238374
2022
- Article de journal
  
  Lapenta, O. M., Keller, P. E., Nozaradan, S., & Varlet, M. (2022). Lateralised dynamic modulations of corticomuscular coherence associated with bimanual learning of rhythmic patterns. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 6271 [1-11]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10342-5 (Original work published 2022)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/100969
- Sifuentes-Ortega, R., Lenc, T., Nozaradan, S., & Peigneux, P. (2022). Partially Preserved Processing of Musical Rhythms in REM but Not in NREM Sleep. Cerebral Cortex, 32(7), 1508-1519. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab303 (Original work published 2022)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/27884
- Nijhuis, P., Keller, P. E., Nozaradan, S., & Varlet, M. (2022). Null effects of musical groove on cortico-muscular coherence during isometric contraction. Neuroimage: Reports, 2(1), 100075 [1-15]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynirp.2021.100075 (Original work published 2022)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/100848
2021
- Article de journal
  
  Lenc, T., Merchant, H., Keller, P. E., Honing, H., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2021). Mapping between sound, brain and behaviour: four-level framework for understanding rhythm processing in humans and non-human primates. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 376(1835), 20200325. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0325 (Original work published 2021)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/24156
2020
- Article de journal
  
  Bouvet, C. J., Bardy, B. G., Keller, P. E., Dalla Bella, S., Nozaradan, S., & Varlet, M. (2020). Accent-induced Modulation of Neural and Movement Patterns during Spontaneous Synchronization to Auditory Rhythms. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(12), 2260-2271. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01605 (Original work published 2020)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/107558
2019
- Papier de conférence
  
  Lenc, T., Keller, P. E., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2019). Hysteresis in the selective synchronization of brain activity to perceived meter in musical rhythms. Rhythm Production and Perception Workshop, Traverse City, MI.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/26131
- Article de journal
  
  Lenc, T., Keller, P. E., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2019). Reply to Rajendran and Schnupp: Frequency tagging is sensitive to the temporal structure of signals. Proceedings of the National academy of sciences of the United States of America, 116(8), 2781-2782. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820941116 (Original work published 2019)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/24034
2018
- Papier de conférence
  
  Lenc, T., Keller, P. E., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2018). Neural tracking of the musical beat is enhanced by low-frequency sounds. Meter Symposium, Sydney, Australia.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/27310
- Lenc, T., Keller, P. E., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2018). Neural tracking of the musical beat is enhanced by low-frequency sounds. Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Experimental Psychology, Hobart, Australia.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/27002
- Article de journal
  
  Lenc, T., Keller, P. E., Varlet, M., & Nozaradan, S. (2018). Neural tracking of the musical beat is enhanced by low-frequency sounds. Proceedings of the National academy of sciences of the United States of America, 115(32), 8221-8226. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801421115 (Original work published 2018)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/24467
- Nozaradan, S., Schönwiesner, M., Keller, P. E., Lenc, T., & Lehmann, A. (2018). Neural bases of rhythmic entrainment in humans: critical transformation between cortical and lower-level representations of auditory rhythm. European Journal of Neuroscience, 47(4), 321-332. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13826 (Original work published 2018)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/26477
- Derosiere, G., Klein, P.-A., Nozaradan, S., Zenon, A., Mouraux, A., & Duque, J. (2018). Visuomotor Correlates of Conflict Expectation in the Context of Motor Decisions. The Journal of Neuroscience, 38(44), 9486-9504. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0623-18.2018 (Original work published 2018)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/60512
2017
- Article de journal
  
  Nozaradan, S., Schwartze, M., Obermeier, C., & Kotz, S. A. (2017). Specific contributions of basal ganglia and cerebellum to the neural tracking of rhythm. Cortex, 95, 156-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.015 (Original work published 2017)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/52722
- Papier de conférence
  
  Derosiere, G., Klein, P.-A., Nozaradan, S., Mouraux, A., Zenon, A., & Duque, J. (2017). Impact of conflict expectation on selective attention and action selection processes during motor decisions: an EEG study. Front. Neurosci. Conference Proceedings: 12th National Congress of the Belgian Society for Neuroscience., 1(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.3389/conf.fnins.2017.94.00121 (Original work published 2017)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/122303
2016
- Article de journal
  
  Nozaradan, S., Schönwiesner, M., Caron-Desrochers, L., & Lehmann, A. (2016). Enhanced brainstem and cortical encoding of sound during synchronized movement. NeuroImage, 142, 231-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.07.015 (Original work published 2016)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/60072
2015
- Papier de conférence
  
  Warlop, T., Chemin, B., Cambier, C., Nozaradan, S., Detrembleur, C., Crevecoeur, F., Stoquart, G., Jeanjean, A., & Lejeune, T. (2015). Does metronome really help timing gait in Parkinson’s disease? Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 58s(58s), e73-e77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2015.07.180 (Original work published 2015)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/254315
2014
- Article de journal
  
  Nozaradan, S. (2014). Exploring how musical rhythm entrains brain activity with electroencephalogram frequency-tagging. Philosophical transactions. Biological sciences / Royal Society of London, 369(1658). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0393 (Original work published 2014)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/63487
2013
- Article de journal
  
  Nozaradan, S., Zerouali, Y., Peretz, I., & Mouraux, A. (2013). Capturing with EEG the neural entrainment and coupling underlying sensorimotor synchronization to the beat. Cerebral Cortex. Published. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bht261 (Original work published 2013)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/204338
2012
- Papier de conférence
  
  Nozaradan, S. (2012). Selective neuronal synchronization to the beat and meter embedded in a musical rhythm. Perspective on Rhythm and Timing Workshop, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/224879
- Article de journal
  
  Colon, E., Nozaradan, S., Legrain, V., & Mouraux, A. (2012). Steady-state evoked potentials to tag specific components of nociceptive cortical processing. NeuroImage, 60(1), 571-581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.12.015 (Original work published 2012)
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/162717
2011
- Papier de conférence
  
  Nozaradan, S. (2011). Tagging the neuronal entrainment to beat and meter as steady-state evoked potentials. Rhythm perception and production workshop, Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Human Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/225164
- Colon, E., Nozaradan, S., Legrain, V., & Mouraux, A. (2011). Nociceptive and non-nociceptive steady-state evoked potentials tag distinct cortical network. Laser Talks, Alborg, Denmark.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/51571
2010
- Papier de conférence
  
  Nozaradan, S. (2010). Tagging the neuronal entrainment to beat and meter: a steady-state evoked potential approach. Belgian Brain Council, Brussels, Belgium.
  
  https://research.dial.uclouvain.be/handle/2078.5/225259

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