Motor Lateralization May Be Influenced by Long-Term Piano Playing Practice

Abstract

Motor lateralization is viewed as anatomical or functional asymmetry of the two sides of the body. Functional motor asymmetry can be influenced by musical practice. This study explored whether piano playing experience modulates motor asymmetry and leads to an altered pattern of hand selection, reflecting an altered handedness. We asked two groups of right-handed participants—piano players and non-piano players—to reach targets in their frontal space with both arms, and we tested the motor performance of each arm on this task and then on an arm preference test. As musical practice can decrease motor asymmetry between arms, we hypothesized that participants with piano playing experience would display less interlimb asymmetry and that this, in turn, would change their arm preference pattern, compared with participants without piano playing experience. We found support for both hypotheses, and we conclude that arm selection (preference) is not biologically fixed, but, rather, can be modulated through long-term piano playing.

Different Music Training Modulates Theta Brain Oscillations Associated with Executive Function

“…However, depending on the instrument being played, the motor behavior of the hands may differ. For example, when playing a stringed instrument, one of the musician’s arms moves horizontally while the other arm moves vertically, but the pianists use both arms horizontally when playing the piano [ 20 ]. Previous studies have found that in string instruments training, such as violin training, in the left forearm, the wrist and finger flexor and extensor muscles are used to control the fingering movements in the hand; while in the right forearm, the flexors and extensors are used to control the bow [ 22 , 23 ].…”

“…Moreover, different instruments require diverse training regimes such as hand use. For example, the piano requires both hands to move under different tempi, but the guitar and violin do not [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. They emphasize both hand coordination, which specifies right-hand plucking or bowing, and left-hand pressing the string simultaneously [ 22 , 23 ].…”

Pursuing Artful Movement Science in Music Performance: Single Subject Motor Analysis With Two Elite Pianists

“…In P3, the right hand mimics the general pattern of the left hand. These motor skills, both symmetric and asymmetric, required highly developed motor coordination between both limbs, something that is achieved through long-term training ( Kilincer et al., 2019 ).…”

Piano practice with emphasis on left hand for right handers: Developing pedagogical strategies based on motor control perspectives

“…In a reaching accuracy task, piano experts outperformed non-piano controls in terms of left-hand performance, whereas no significant difference was identified between the experts and the controls in task performance by right hand. Thus, a smaller between-hand difference was identified in the experts compared with the controls (Kilincer et al, 2019 ). Consistent findings were also reported in a study which included a pegboard test and a finger tapping test (Chieffo et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Skillful performance requires a high level of precise control over right and left hands. After years of intensive practice, pianists are able to move both hands with great automaticity (Kilincer et al, 2019 ).…”