Abstract

Musician's dystonia (MD) is a task-specific movement disorder characterized by a loss of voluntary motor control in highly trained movements like piano playing. Its underlying pathophysiology is defined by deficient functioning of neural pathways at different levels of the central nervous system. However, a few studies have examined the brain responses associated with executive functions such as error monitoring in MD. We recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) in professional pianists during the performance of memorized music sequences at fast tempi. Event-related potentials (ERPs) locked to pitch errors were investigated in MD and a control group. In MD patients, significantly larger error-related brain responses before and following errors were observed as compared with healthy pianists. Our results suggest that in MD, the generalized degraded neural activity at all levels of the central nervous system is manifested in specific neural correlates of the executive functions that monitor an overlearned sensorimotor performance.

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Publisher Full Text

Authors

Strübing F, Herrojo Ruiz M, Jabusch HC, Altenmüller E

Institution

Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine, Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, Hannover, Germany.

Source

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1252: 2012 Apr pg 192-9

MeSH

Adult
Basal Ganglia
Case-Control Studies
Dystonic Disorders
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials
Executive Function
Female
Humans
Male
Memory
Middle Aged
Music
Neurosciences
Psychomotor Performance
Task Performance and Analysis

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22524359