Abstract
Extensive training of repetitive and highly skilled movements, as it occurs in professional classical musicians, may lead to changes in tactile sensitivity and corresponding cortical reorganization of somatosensory cortices. It is also known that professional musicians frequently experience musculoskeletal pain and pain-related symptoms during their careers. The present study aimed at understanding the complex interaction between chronic pain and music training with respect to somatosensory processing. For this purpose, tactile thresholds (mechanical detection, grating orientation, two-point discrimination) and subjective ratings to thermal and pressure pain stimuli were assessed in 17 professional musicians with chronic pain, 30 pain-free musicians, 20 non-musicians with chronic pain, and 18 pain-free non-musicians. We found that pain-free musicians displayed greater touch sensitivity (i.e., lower mechanical detection thresholds), lower tactile spatial acuity (i.e., higher grating orientation thresholds) and increased pain sensitivity to pressure and heat compared to pain-free non-musicians. Moreover, we also found that musicians and non-musicians with chronic pain presented lower tactile spatial acuity and increased pain sensitivity to pressure and heat compared to pain-free non-musicians. The significant increment of pain sensitivity together with decreased spatial discrimination in pain-free musicians and the similarity of results found in chronic pain patients, suggests that the extensive training of repetitive and highly skilled movements in classical musicians could be considered as a risk factor for developing chronic pain, probably due to use-dependent plastic changes elicited in somatosensory pathways.
Highlights
Musical training involves the development of fine motor skills under high motivational drive linked to the emotional power of music (Koelsch et al, 2008; Jäncke, 2009)
The present study aimed at exploring the complex interactions between musical training and chronic pain, testing if altered somatosensory response associated with musical practice could mirror tactile and pain sensitization typical of chronic pain patients
Our results showed that pain-free musicians compared to non-musicians displayed a significant enhancement of tactile sensitivity, together with reduced spatial discrimination acuity and enhanced sensitivity to pressure and heat pain
Summary
Musical training involves the development of fine motor skills under high motivational drive linked to the emotional power of music (Koelsch et al, 2008; Jäncke, 2009). The prolonged and intensified processing of these sensory and motor inputs required for task performance induces modifications in the structural and functional organization of the somatosensory system (Münte et al, 2002; Kleber et al, 2010). These plastic brain changes are typically related to levels of expertize, it has been reported that practice routine and extensive use may produce task-specific movement disorders such as focal dystonia (Altenmüller and Jabusch, 2010) and chronic pain (Steinmetz et al, 2014). A variety of therapeutic and preventive approaches are frequently used to alleviate pain, including medication, physical therapy, exercises, stretching and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience www.frontiersin.org
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