Rhythmic priming enhances the phonological processing of speech

► A rhythmic cue was found to enhance the phonological processing of words. ► The cue induced expectations about both 'beat' and 'metre'. ► Beat and metric expectations impacted upon different ERP components (N100, P300). ► Results reveal a cross-domain effect of musical rhythm on speech rhythm processing. ► This has implications for the positive effect of rhythm in speech rehabilitations.