Secrets of virtuoso: neuromuscular attributes of motor virtuosity in expert musicians.

Shinichi Furuya,Fumio Miyazaki,Hiroshi Kinoshita,Takanori Oku

doi:10.1038/srep15750

Abstract

Musical performance requires extremely fast and dexterous limb movements. The underlying biological mechanisms have been an object of interest among scientists and non-scientists for centuries. Numerous studies of musicians and non-musicians have demonstrated that neuroplastic adaptations through early and deliberate musical training endowed superior motor skill. However, little has been unveiled about what makes inter-individual differences in motor skills among musicians. Here we determined the attributes of inter-individual differences in the maximum rate of repetitive piano keystrokes in twenty-four pianists. Among various representative factors of neuromuscular functions, anatomical characteristics, and training history, a stepwise multiple regression analysis and generalized linear model identified two predominant predictors of the maximum rate of repetitive piano keystrokes; finger tapping rate and muscular strength of the elbow extensor. These results suggest a non-uniform role of individual limb muscles in the production of extremely fast repetitive multi-joint movements. Neither age of musical training initiation nor the amount of extensive musical training before age twenty was a predictor. Power grip strength was negatively related to the maximum rate of piano keystrokes only during the smallest tone production. These findings highlight the importance of innate biological nature and explicit training for motor virtuosity.

Highlights

Maximum speed of elbow rotation but not finger rotation[9]
The present study aims at identifying attributes of inter-individual differences in the maximum rate of repetitive piano keystrokes in skilled pianists
These factors were used as independent variables in a stepwise multiple regression analysis to identify potential predictors of inter-individual differences in the maximum rate of piano keystrokes across the players at each loudness level

Summary

Introduction

Maximum speed of elbow rotation but not finger rotation[9]. This result suggests a non-uniform relationship of the maximum speed between the fingertip and individual joints. The repetitive strikes of two keys with the thumb and little finger were used in this study because our previous studies confirmed that a skillful coordination of multiple joints from the shoulder to the finger is required for movement production[10,16,17] These movements are characterized by variations of patterns of multi-joint coordination in relation to tempo and loudness[8]. We assessed musical training history, such as the age of musical training initiation and the amount of intensive musical practice before age twenty, anatomical characteristics, and neuromuscular functions at individual body portions, such as motor agility and muscular strength These factors were chosen because most of them were widely investigated in previous studies of simplistic motor tasks[18]. An understanding of the predictors sheds light on the biological mechanisms subserving virtuosic motor performance and provides a perspective on which principled training strategies may be built

Methods

Results

Conclusion