Freely Chosen Index Finger Tapping Frequency Is Increased in Repeated Bouts of Tapping

Abstract

Healthy individuals (n = 40) performed index finger tapping at freely chosen frequency during repeated bouts and before and after near-maximal muscle action consisting of 3 intense flexions of the index finger metacarpal phalangeal joint. One experiment showed, unexpectedly, that a bout of tapping increased the tapping frequency in the subsequent bout. Thus, a cumulating increase of 8.2 ± 5.4% (p < .001) occurred across 4 bouts, which were all separated by 10 min rest periods. Follow-up experiments revealed that tapping frequency was still increased in consecutive bouts when rest periods were extended to 20 min. Besides, near-maximal muscle activation, followed by 5 min rest, did not affect the tapping frequency. In conclusion, freely chosen tapping frequency was increased in repeated bouts of tapping, which were separated by 10-20 min rest periods. The observed phenomenon is suggested to be termed repeated bout rate enhancement.

Vertical Finger Displacement Is Reduced in Index Finger Tapping During Repeated Bout Rate Enhancement

“…Of note is that the average tapping frequency in the present study was approximately 20% lower than in the preceding study by Hansen et al (2015). The reason for this is not obvious.…”

“…Recently, a novel phenomenon termed repeated bout rate enhancement was reported in healthy individuals (Hansen, Ebbesen, Dalsgaard, Mora-Jensen, & Rasmussen, 2015). Briefly, the phenomenon constitutes a cumulating increase in freely chosen tapping frequency following submaximal muscle activation and movement consisting of externally unloaded voluntary finger tapping.…”

Repeated Bout Rate Enhancement Is Elicited by Various Forms of Finger Tapping

“…Though, it is considered that control of rhythmic movement is similar in animals and humans ( Dimitrijevic et al, 1998 ; Zehr, 2005 ; Hansen, 2015 ). To increase our understanding, studies applying reflex modulation during, for example, arm cycling and pedalling ( Zehr et al, 2007 ; Hundza and Zehr, 2009 ), voluntary pedalling ( Sakamoto et al, 2007 ; Hansen and Ohnstad, 2008 ; Stang et al, 2016 ), and finger tapping ( Shima et al, 2011 ; Hansen et al, 2015 ; Mora-Jensen et al, 2017 ) have been performed. Such studies reflect that investigation of CPG-mediated voluntary rhythmic movement in humans is challenged by the restricted access to the spinal cord ( Dietz, 2003 ; Zehr, 2005 ).…”

“…A previous study demonstrated the existence of a behavioural phenomenon termed repeated bout rate enhancement ( Hansen et al, 2015 ). Briefly, the phenomenon consists of an increased freely chosen finger tapping frequency in the second of two consecutive tapping bouts separated by a rest period.…”

“…Briefly, the phenomenon consists of an increased freely chosen finger tapping frequency in the second of two consecutive tapping bouts separated by a rest period. Thus, it was reported that a cumulating increase of the freely chosen tapping frequency of approximately 8% occurs across four bouts of tapping, which were all separated by 10 min rest periods ( Hansen et al, 2015 ). The finding was recently replicated ( Mora-Jensen et al, 2017 ).…”