The Influence of Music Tempo on Inhibitory Control: An ERP Study

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the influence of music tempo on inhibition control. An electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded when participants performed a Go/No-go task while listening to slow (54 bpm), medium-paced (104 bpm), fast (154 bpm), or no music. The behavioral results showed that the accuracies for the No-go trials were lower in the fast than in the slow tempo music conditions, while the accuracies for the Go trials were also lower in the fast tempo than in no music conditions. The event-related potential (ERP) study results showed that larger N2 and P3 amplitudes were elicited by No-go than by Go conditions. Moreover, the difference N2 (N2d) amplitudes observed by No-go vs. Go condition were larger in fast music than in medium-paced, slow, and no music conditions, indicating more consumption of cognitive resources in the process of conflict monitoring under the fast music condition. However, no such differences were observed among medium-paced, slow, and no music conditions. In addition, the difference P3 (P3d) amplitudes, an index of response inhibition, were not significant among these four music conditions. The present study showed a detrimental influence of music tempo on inhibition control. More specifically, listening to fast music might impair an individual’s ability to monitor conflict when performing the inhibitory control task.