Auditory rhythm perception, the set of psy-chophysical phenomena that is central to our experience of temporal structure music, has long been studied by psychologists, who rec-ognized both the ubiquity of rhythm in na-ture as well as its specific roles in human ac-tivity Since these early studies, much has been learned about various aspects of rhythm per-ception. including the conditions under which it occurs (see Large and Snyder), the sources of information relevant to its perception in music, and the computational processes that might underlie rhythm perception in the hu- man brain. Only recently, however, has modern brain imaging technology made possible the direct en study of the brain processes and structures involved in rhythm perception. This is a significant development. as it is with the application of brain imaging to other as-pects of beliavior, because it promises to enable more direct testing ofneural theories of rhythm perception. In addition to furthering basic sci-entific theory the knowledge gained is likely to have significant implications for understanding and treating medical conditions that have an impact on temporally structured behavior. The papers in this section. "Rhythms in the Brain, show case some of the most significant lines of research making progress on understanding the neural basis of rhythm in healthy and clinical populations, using psychophysical, brain imaging, and computational approaches.
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