Reduced surround inhibition in musicians

To investigate whether surround inhibition (SI) in the motor system is altered in professional musicians, we performed a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study in 10 professional musicians and 15 age-matched healthy non-musicians. TMS was set to be triggered by self-initiated flexion of the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 2012-06, Vol.219 (3), p.403-408
Main Authors: Shin, Hae-Won, Kang, Suk Y., Hallett, Mark, Sohn, Young H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain research
Diseases of striated muscles. Neuromuscular diseases
Dystonia
Electromyography
Evoked potentials (Electrophysiology)
Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology
Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory - physiology
Female
Finger
Fingers - innervation
Fingers - physiology
Humans
Magnetic brain stimulation
Male
Medical sciences
Motor ability
Motor evoked potentials
Motor Skills - physiology
Muscles
Music - psychology
Musical instruments
Musical performances
Musicians
Musicians & conductors
Neural Inhibition - physiology
Neurology
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Neurosciences
Ophthalmology
Physiological aspects
Piano
Research Article
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - methods
University colleges
Vision disorders
Young Adult
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Summary:To investigate whether surround inhibition (SI) in the motor system is altered in professional musicians, we performed a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) study in 10 professional musicians and 15 age-matched healthy non-musicians. TMS was set to be triggered by self-initiated flexion of the index finger at different intervals ranging from 3 to 1,000 ms. Average motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes obtained from self-triggered TMS were normalized to average MEPs of the control TMS at rest and expressed as a percentage. Normalized MEP amplitudes of the abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles were compared between the musicians and non-musicians with the primary analysis being the intervals between 3 and 80 ms (during the movement). A mixed-design ANOVA revealed a significant difference in normalized ADM MEPs during the index finger flexion between groups, with less SI in the musicians. This study demonstrated that the functional operation of SI is less strong in musicians than non-musicians, perhaps due to practice of movement synergies involving both muscles. Reduced SI, however, could lead susceptible musicians to be prone to develop task-specific dystonia.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-012-3102-z