When the Brain Waits for the Beat: Emotional Priming and EEG Signatures in Rhythmic Expectation

Abstract

The human brain is a prediction machine, and nowhere is this more apparent than in how it processes musical rhythm. When a beat arrives on time, the brain registers confirmation; when it does not, something more interesting happens. This paper examines the neural mechanisms underlying rhythmic expectation and its interaction with emotional priming, drawing on electroencephalography research and publicly available datasets including the DEAP dataset and OpenNeuro repositories. Grounding the analysis in Huron's ITPRA theory, Meyer's expectation framework, and predictive coding accounts of auditory perception, the paper traces the EEG signatures associated with rhythmic violation, expectation fulfillment, and emotionally primed listening states. Key neural markers examined include the mismatch negativity, N400, and oscillatory activity in beta and theta frequency bands. The findings suggest that rhythmic expectation is not a purely cognitive phenomenon but is deeply entangled with emotional processing in ways that have significant implications for music cognition research, therapeutic applications of music, and our broader understanding of how the brain constructs temporal experience.