Perception in action: Perceptual basis of synchronization abilities

Synchronizing one's own movement with respect to a temporally predictable structure of events appears in various contexts of life. A precise coordination of perception and action is herefore required. Though synchronization with respect to an auditory pacing signal seems to be simple, a systematic bias occurs: Typically, the tap precedes the pacing signal by several milliseconds despite the subjective impression of synchrony. Since it has been argued that this so-called negative asynchrony might be due to sensory processing rather than to a systematic bias in the motor system, the present study aims at elucidati…