Emergent Entrainment and Predictive Dynamics in Bio-Inspired Spiking Neural Networks

Rhythm is a key building block of human music, speech and numerous other human activities. Understanding the computational substrates of rhythm perception requires models that bridge algorithmic function with biological implementation. We propose a physiologically grounded spiking neural network (SNN) framework to investigate the emergent representation and interpretation of auditory rhythms. Utilizing a recurrent SNN architecture trained on an auditory entrainment task, we characterize the network’s latent dynamics through the analysis of firing rates and membrane potential fluctuations. Our results demonstrate that simulated neural populations exhibit phase-locking to the stimulus beat, with endogenous oscillations driven by rhythmic input. We further show that anticipatory dynamics—characterized by pre-stimulus depolarization—emerge naturally from the network’s synaptic plasticity and temporal integration properties, rather than from explicitly defined oscillators. By treating network layers as functional analogs of cortical populations, this framework allows for the application of spectral and information-theoretic analyses typical of empirical electrophysiology. More in general, this approach establishes SNNs as robust exploratory tools for uncovering how predictive coding and rhythmic entrainment arise from the inherent constraints of biological neural computation.