Predictive regulation of cardiovascular system on emergence of auditory-motor interaction in young infants

Humans develop auditory-motor interaction to produce a variety of rhythmic sounds using body movements, which are often produced and amplified with tools, such as drumming. The extended production of sounds allows us to express a wide range of emotions, accompanied by physiological changes. According to previous studies, even young infants exhibit movements in response to auditory feedback. However, their exhibition of physiological adaptation on emergence of auditory-motor interaction is unclear. We investigated the heart rate change associated with auditory feedback to spontaneous limb movements in 3-month-old infants. The results showed that, in response to the auditory feedback, infants begin to increase heart rate more selectively immediately before the timing of the feedback. Furthermore, they gradually suppress the peak intensity of the heart rate increase through auditory-motor experience. These findings suggest that emergence of auditory-motor interaction in young infants involves predictive regulation to implicitly maintain homeostasis in the cardiovascular system. The predictive regulation, which is referred to as allostasis, may contribute to the prolonged sound production and provide a developmental basis for more sophisticated goal-directed behavior of producing rhythmic sounds.