Editorial: The Role of Sound in Motor Perception and Execution
Authors: Murgia Mauro , Galmonte Alessandra 
Published: January 2016

“Perception and action” is one of the main research fields
in which experimental psychologists work together with experts
of other disciplines, such as medicine, physiotherapy,
engineering, and sport. Traditionally, researchers have
mainly focused on visual perception and on its influences on
motor processes, while less attention has been dedicated to
the role of auditory perception. However, in the last decade,
the interest towards the influence of sounds on both action
perception and motor execution has increased significantly.
On the one hand, researchers have been interested in determining
how humans can represent motor actions through the
sounds associated with movements, as well as which auditory
cues are salient for recognizing and discriminating different
features of movement [1-10]. On the other hand, researchers
have studied how auditory stimuli affect the production
of complex movements in different domains [11-21].
The general aim of this special issue is to provide an overview
of the relationship between sounds and movements by
addressing theoretical, methodological, and applied issues
from a multidisciplinary perspective.

ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLUME

At the beginning of this special issue we report the contributions
that deal with theoretical (Steenson & Rodger;
Pizzera & Hohmann) and methodological (Dyer, Stapleton &
Rodger) issues regarding auditory perception and action.
After providing a theoretical and methodological background,
we report those contributions that focus on possible
applications of auditory training in the domain of sport and
exercise psychology (O, Law & Rymal; Sors, Murgia, Santoro
& Agostini), rehabilitation (Murgia, Corona, Pili, Sors,
Agostini, Casula, Pau & Guicciardi), and motor learning
(Effenberg, Schmitz, Baumann, Rosenhahn & Kroeger).

In the first article, Steenson and Rodger highlight that despite
the fact that sounds are helpful in executing many dayto-
day and context-specific movements and skills in everyday
life, there is a surprising lack of exploration of this topic
in psychological studies. In fact, the authors review the
auditory perception literature and note that auditory perception
theories mainly describe the rules governing the processing
and representation of sounds in memory, and largely
disregard the meaning that sounds have to individuals engaged
in movement and the subsequent use of movement
sounds in movement priming and execution. Steenson and
Rodger’s work can be framed in the context of Gibson’s ecological
psychology, as they emphasize the role of sound as a
very important affordance that we use to interact with our
environment.

In the second contribution, Pizzera and Hohmann extensively
review studies that address the relevance of the mutual
interactions between perception and motor control. Again,
these authors highlight the scarcity of research on acoustic
information, especially when comparing it with the amount
of evidence available in the visual domain. Pizzera and
Hohmann offer their perspective on the role of auditory information
in controlling and integrating the perception and
action cycle. The authors present both behavioral and neurophysiological
evidence in support of the importance of auditory
information in perception and action, and propose valuable
suggestions that future investigators should consider in
order to advance the state of knowledge in this domain.

The methodological contribution of Dyer, Stapleton and
Rodger highlights the feasibility of movement sonification as
an effective feedback tool for enhancing motor skill learning
and performance, particularly in novices. The authors critically
discuss the strengths and weaknesses of movement
sonification in the context of providing efficient perceptual
feedback information to learners. Dyer, Stapleton and Rodger
conclude that a well-defined framework for sonification
mapping has yet to be established and that there is still need
for controlled trials in motor learning. However, the authors
do suggest that new technologies relevant to movement
sound recording, mapping, and sonification are available to
researchers and can facilitate meaningful and much-needed
future research on this promising perceptual feedback
method.

With regards to the possible applications of audio-based
interventions, the fourth article of the issue by O, Law, and
Rymal provides an overview of imagery and modeling research
in sport psychology and motor learning, documenting evidence supporting the cognitive processing similarities
between imagery and modeling. Within this background, the
authors critically examine the role of the auditory sense in
modeling and imagery, analyzing both theoretical issues and
empirical evidence. From a bio-informational theory perspective,
O, Law, and Rymal offer several examples of potential
applications of the deliberate integration of the auditory
sense in movement teaching and instruction, but also
offer a strong caveat regarding the severe lack of applied
research on the auditory sense focused on sport populations,
especially in the domain of imagery. In their conclusions the
authors propose detailed recommendations for future research.

A second contribution on audio-based interventions in
sports is provided by Sors, Murgia, Santoro and Agostini.
The authors extensively define the concepts of augmented
feedback and modeling, and review studies demonstrating
the effectiveness of sounds in improving the execution of
simple rhythmic motor tasks. Then, Sors and colleagues describe
both a theoretical background and neurophysiological
evidence illustrating the mechanisms that are possibly influenced
by audio-based interventions. Finally, they provide a
complete description of the literature on auditory modeling
and auditory augmented feedback in sports, specifying the
methodological details of previous studies and proposing
future directions for both, application and research.

In the sixth article, Murgia, Corona, Pili, Sors, Agostini,
Casula, Pau and Guicciardi illustrate the perceptual-motor
impairments of patients affected by Parkinsons’ disease and
new frontiers in assessment and interventions. They extensively
review the empirical evidence concerning the Rhythmic
Auditory Stimulation (RAS) method, describing the
mechanisms underpinning its effectiveness. The authors propose
possible methods for integrating auditory cues into
physical therapy interventions as well as assessments. Last,
Murgia and colleagues describe the biomechanical advantages
of three-dimensional quantitative gait analysis, and
discuss the potential impact of the incorporation of ecological
footstep sounds in the modulation of patients’ gait.

In the seventh and last contribution of this special issue,
Effenberg, Schmitz, Baumann, Rosenhahn and Kroeger present
a new method based on sonification called “Sound-
Script”, which is aimed to facilitate the acquisition of writing.
This method consists of the sonification of handwriting,
that is, the conversion of physical parameters (i.e., position
of the pen, pressure) into movement sounds, which provides
children with auditory information which correlates with
visual information of their handwriting performance. The
authors report pilot data, showing that the multisensory integration
elicited by SoundScript leads to a more adequate
reproduction of writing kinematics. Effenberg and colleagues
conclude by highlighting the potential of this new
method and suggesting future steps for research.

In sum, we hope that the papers presented in this special
issue constitute a useful reference for movement researchers
in the field of auditory perception and action, as well as for
practitioners in the domains of sport, rehabilitation, and motor
learning.