Psycho-physiological responses to expressive piano performance

Impact of music performance anxiety on cardiovascular blood pressure responses, autonomic tone and baroreceptor sensitivity to a western classical music piano-concert

Introduction

Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is a prevalent condition among musicians that can manifest both psychologically and physiologically, leading to impaired musical performance. Physiologically, MPA is characterized by excessive muscular and/or autonomic tone. This study focuses on the cardiovascular blood pressure responses, autonomic tone and baroreceptor sensitivity changes that occur during musical performance due to MPA.

Methods

Six professional pianists perform a piece for piano written only for the left hand by Alexander Scriabin. The following parameters have been studied during the performance: ECG, non-invasive beat to beat continuous arterial blood pressure and skin conductance. Sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic flow was studied with Wigner-Ville analysis (W-V) from R-R ECG variability, and baroreceptor sensitivity with the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT).

Results

During the concert a significant increase of heart rate, systolic, mean and diastolic arterial pressure were observed. No significant differences were found in skin conductance. The W-V analysis, which studies frequency changes in the time domain, shows a significant increase of sympathetic flow and a decrease of parasympathetic flow during the concert which is associated with a significant decrease in sympathetic and vagal baroreceptor sensitivity.

Discussion

The study of cardiac variability using the Wigner-Ville analysis may be a suitable method to assess the autonomic response in the context of MPA, and could be used as biofeedback in personalized multimodal treatments.

The plyometric activity as a conditioning to enhance strength and precision of the finger movements in pianists

Stability of timing and force production in repetitive movements characterizes skillful motor behaviors such as surgery and playing musical instruments. However, even trained individuals such as musicians undergo further extensive training for the improvement of these skills. Previous studies that investigated the lower extremity movements such as jumping and sprinting demonstrated enhancement of the maximum force and rate of force development immediately after the plyometric exercises. However, it remains unknown whether the plyometric exercises enhance the stability of timing and force production of the dexterous finger movements in trained individuals. Here we address this issue by examining the effects of plyometric exercise specialized for finger movements on piano performance. We compared the training-related changes in the piano-key motion and several physiological features of the finger muscles (e.g., electromyography, rate of force development, and muscle temperature) by well-trained pianists. The conditioning demonstrated a decrease of the variation in timing and velocity of successive keystrokes, along with a concomitant increase in the rate of force development of the four fingers, but not the thumb, although there was no change in the finger muscular activities through the activity. By contrast, such a conditioning effect was not evident following a conventional repetitive piano practice. In addition, a significant increase in the forearm muscle temperature was observed specifically through performing the plyometric exercise with the fingers, implying its association with improved performance. These results indicate effectiveness of the plyometric exercises for improvement of strength, precision, and physiological efficiency of the finger movements even in expert pianists, which implicates that ways of practicing play a key role in enhancing experts' expertise.

Noncontact and High-Precision Sensing System for Piano Keys Identified Fingerprints of Virtuosity

Dexterous tool use is typically characterized by fast and precise motions performed by multiple fingers. One representative task is piano playing, which involves fast performance of a sequence of complex motions with high spatiotemporal precision. However, for several decades, a lack of contactless sensing technologies that are capable of precision measurement of piano key motions has been a bottleneck for unveiling how such an outstanding skill is cultivated. Here, we developed a novel sensing system that can record the vertical position of all piano keys with a time resolution of 1 ms and a spatial resolution of 0.01 mm in a noncontact manner. Using this system, we recorded the piano key motions while 49 pianists played a complex sequence of tones that required both individuated and coordinated finger movements to be performed as fast and accurately as possible. Penalized regression using various feature variables of the key motions identified distinct characteristics of the key-depressing and key-releasing motions in relation to the speed and accuracy of the performance. For the maximum rate of the keystrokes, individual differences across the pianists were associated with the peak key descending velocity, the key depression duration, and key-lift timing. For the timing error of the keystrokes, the interindividual differences were associated with the peak ascending velocity of the key and the inter-strike variability of both the peak key descending velocity and the key depression duration. These results highlight the importance of dexterous control of the vertical motions of the keys for fast and accurate piano performance.

ADHD and Emotion Dysregulation Among Children and Adolescents

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience impairments in a number of functional domains. Although current evidence-based treatments for ADHD reduce symptoms and improve academic and behavioral functioning, they have minimal impact on social functioning or on risky behaviors (see Evans et al. in J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol, 43:527-551, 2014 for review). Preliminary evidence indicates that emotion dysregulation (ED) is associated with impairments across the developmental spectrum, such as social impairment and risky behaviors, and that its relative absence/presence is differentially associated with treatment response. It thus stands to reason that by incorporating a focus on ED in interventions targeting social impairment and risky behaviors, we may be able to increase the number of youth who respond to such interventions and decrease the prevalence or degree of these impairments and behaviors among youth and adults with ADHD. However, a number of questions remain unaddressed about the association between ADHD and ED, such as the portion of individuals with ADHD who experience ED, the extent to which ED is associated with the above impairments and behaviors, and whether or not ED is malleable. To begin addressing these questions, we summarize and critically evaluate the literature on the association between ADHD and ED and make recommendations for future basic, translational, and treatment outcome research.

Relationship between Musical Characteristics and Temporal Breathing Pattern in Piano Performance

Although there is growing evidence that breathing is modulated by various motor and cognitive activities, the nature of breathing in musical performance has been little explored. The present study examined the temporal breath pattern in piano performance, aiming to elucidate how breath timing is related to musical organization/events and performance. In the experiments, the respiration of 15 professional and amateur pianists, playing 10 music excerpts in total (from four-octave C major scale, Hanon's exercise, J. S. Bach's Invention, Mozart's Sonatas, and Debussy's Clair de lune), was monitored by capnography. The relationship between breathing and musical characteristics was analyzed. Five major results were obtained. (1) Mean breath interval was shortened for excerpts in faster tempi. (2) Fluctuation of breath intervals was reduced for the pieces for finger exercise and those in faster tempi. Pianists showing large within-trial fluctuation also exhibited large inter-excerpt difference. (3) Inter-trial consistency of the breath patterns depended on the excerpts. Consistency was generally reduced for the excerpts that could be performed mechanically (i.e., pieces for finger exercise), but interestingly, one third of the participant showed consistent patterns for the simple scale, correlated with the ascending/descending sequences. (4) Pianists tended to exhale just after the music onsets, inhale at the rests, and inhibit inhale during the slur parts. There was correlation between breathing pattern and two-voice polyphonic structure for several participants. (5) Respiratory patterns were notably different among the pianists. Every pianist showed his or her own characteristic features commonly for various musical works. These findings suggest that breathing in piano performance depends not only on musical parameters and organization written in the score but also some pianist-dependent factors which might be ingrained to individual pianists.

Spontaneous spinal epidural hemorrhage from intense piano playing

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) is a rare but real neurosurgical emergency. It is caused by atraumatic rupture of the vertebral epidural vein that results in nerve root or spinal cord compression. Most cases of SSEH have a multifactorial etiology, including congenital and acquired coagulopathies; platelet dysfunction; vascular malformation; tumors; uncontrolled hypertension; pregnancy; and, very rarely, activities requiring Valsalva. Herein we reported the case of a young pianist who was attacked by SSEH during piano practice. Playing the piano is a joyful, relaxing entertainment; however, this musical activity can be a highly demanding physical and mental exercise for pianists. Emotional and expressive performance, especially in professional performing, has been reported to result in significant increase of sympathetic and decrease of parasympathetic activities and thus influence the cardiorespiratory variables. The increased biomechanical stress from fluctuating hemodynamics was thought to trigger the rupture of her spinal arteriovenous malformation.

How to detect the yips in golf

The yips is a multi-aetiological phenomenon that is characterized by an involuntary movement that can affect a golfer's putting performance. Diagnostics are crucial for a better understanding of what causes the yips but are still lacking. The purpose of the present study was therefore to identify sensitive methods for detecting the yips and evaluating its aetiology. Forty participants, 20 yips-affected golfers and 20 nonaffected golfers, completed a psychometric testing battery and performed a putting session in the laboratory. They answered questions about their golfing and yips experience and filled in standardized questionnaires measuring trait anxiety, perfectionism, stress-coping strategies, somatic complaints, and movement and decision reinvestment. In the laboratory, they had to putt in five different conditions that might elicit the yips: as usual with both arms, under pressure, with one (the dominant) arm, with a unihockey racket, and with latex gloves. Measures included putting performance, situational anxiety, kinematic parameters of the putter, electromyography of the arm muscles, and electrocardiography. The groups were separated only by putting performance and kinematic parameters when putting with the dominant arm. Future research should use kinematics to investigate the aetiology of the yips and possible interventions.

Cortisol reactivity and performance abilities in social situations in adults with Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with hypersociability and anxiety. However, little is known about how these salient aspects of the phenotype are related or their underlying physiology. We examined cortisol reactivity in WS because cortisol is responsive to psychosocial stress. Compared to typically developing adults, adults with WS had a significant cortisol decrease in response to a challenging cognitive battery. In contrast, cortisol levels in WS stayed stable in response to a solo musical performance, and baseline cortisol levels were significantly associated with musical skill. Results indicate that people with WS respond differentially to different socially-loaded situations. Implications for salience and arousal in cognitive and social situations are discussed.

"Il flauto magico" still works: Mozart's secret of ventilation

Background

Synchronisation/coupling between respiratory patterns and musical structure.

Methods

Healthy professional musicians and members of the audience were studied during a performance of W.A. Mozart’s Piano Concerto KV 449. Electrocardiogram (ECG)/Heart Rate Variability (HRV) data recording (Schiller: Medilog^®AR12, ECG-channels: 3, sampling rate: 4096 Hz, 16 Bit) was carried out and a simultaneous synchronized high definition video/audio recording was made. The breathing-specific data were subsequently extracted using Electrocardiogram-derived respiration (EDR; Software: Schiller medilog^®DARWIN) from the HRV data and overlaid at the same time onto the musical score using FINALE 2011 notation software and the GIMP 2.0 graphics programme. The musical score was graphically modified graphically so that the time code of the breathing signals coincided exactly with the notated musical elements. Thus a direct relationship could be produced between the musicians’ breathing activity and the musical texture. In parallel with the medical/technical analysis, a music analysis of the score was conducted with regard to the style and formal shaping of the composition.

Results

It was found that there are two archetypes of ideally typical breathing behaviour in professional musicians that either drive the musical creation, performance and experience or are driven by the musical structure itself. These archetypes also give rise to various states of synchronisation and regulation between performers, audience and the musical structure.

Conclusions

There are two archetypes of musically-induced breathing which not only represent the identity of music and human physiology but also offer new approaches for multidisciplinary respiratory medicine.

Performing music can induce greater modulation of emotion-related psychophysiological responses than listening to music

The present study investigated the differential effects of music-induced emotion on heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) while playing music on the piano and listening to a recording of the same piece of music. Sixteen pianists were monitored during tasks involving emotional piano performance, non-emotional piano performance, emotional perception, and non-emotional perception. It was found that emotional induction during both perception and performance modulated HR and HRV, and that such modulations were significantly greater during musical performance than during perception. The results confirmed that musical performance was far more effective in modulating emotion-related autonomic nerve activity than musical perception in musicians. The findings suggest the presence of a neural network of reward-emotion-associated autonomic nerve activity for musical performance that is independent of a neural network for musical perception.