Gamma-band activity reflects the metric structure of rhythmic tone sequences

Relatively little is known about the dynamics of auditory cortical rhythm processing using non-invasive methods, partly because resolving responses to events in patterns is difficult using long-latency auditory neuroelectric responses. We studied the relationship between short-latency gamma-band (20-60 Hz) activity (GBA) and the structure of rhythmic tone sequences. We show that induced (non-phase-locked) GBA predicts tone onsets and persists when expected tones are omitted. Evoked (phase-locked) GBA occurs in response to tone onsets with ∼50 ms latency, and is strongly diminished during tone omissions. These properties of auditory GBA correspond with perception of meter in acoustic sequences and provide evidence for the dynamic allocation of attention to temporally structured auditory sequences.