Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer

Musician’s dystonia (MD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions specifically triggered by playing an instrument. This condition often leads to a loss of fine motor control, threatening the careers of affected musicians. While MD is commonly associated with the hands,...

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Main Authors: Shizuka Sata, Kazuaki Honda, Satoshi Yamaguchi, Mizuki Komine, SungHyek Kim, Makio Kashino, Shota Hagio, Shinya Fujii
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1489143/full
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author Shizuka Sata
Kazuaki Honda
Satoshi Yamaguchi
Mizuki Komine
SungHyek Kim
Makio Kashino
Shota Hagio
Shinya Fujii
author_facet Shizuka Sata
Kazuaki Honda
Satoshi Yamaguchi
Mizuki Komine
SungHyek Kim
Makio Kashino
Shota Hagio
Shinya Fujii
author_sort Shizuka Sata
collection DOAJ
description Musician’s dystonia (MD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions specifically triggered by playing an instrument. This condition often leads to a loss of fine motor control, threatening the careers of affected musicians. While MD is commonly associated with the hands, it can also affect the lower limbs, particularly in drummers. Understanding the muscle coordination involved in MD is crucial for comprehending its neurological mechanisms, yet the muscle coordination of lower-limb dystonia has not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to investigate the differences in lower-limb muscle synergies in a drummer with MD, utilizing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to analyze coordinated muscle activity patterns during drumming tasks. A 36-year-old male professional drummer with lower-limb MD was instructed to play a drum set in time with a metronome set at 80 beats per minute. The task involved striking the bass drum pedal in time with the downbeat. Electromyographic (EMG) data were collected from 10 muscles in the right lower limb. The data were analyzed using NMF to extract muscle synergies and compare the number of synergies, spatial modules, and temporal modules between the data with and without dystonia symptoms. The number of muscle synergies did not differ significantly between the data with and without symptoms. Notably, changes were observed in both the spatial and temporal modules of muscle synergies. Spatial modules revealed the appearance of dystonia-specific muscle synergy, which is considered related to compensatory movement. Temporal modules showed significant earlier overactivation in timing, which is considered the direct manifestation of dystonia symptoms. These findings indicate that lower-limb dystonia in drummers affects the spatial and temporal profiles of muscle synergies. This study underscores the importance of considering both spatial and temporal modules of muscle synergy in understanding and treating lower-limb dystonia in drummers. Further research is needed to validate these findings and apply muscle synergy analysis for the clinical assessment of lower-limb dystonia in drummers.
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spelling doaj-art-fd2a1b1fb50a441f95bbec38d99f8d932024-11-18T05:10:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952024-11-011510.3389/fneur.2024.14891431489143Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummerShizuka Sata0Kazuaki Honda1Satoshi Yamaguchi2Mizuki Komine3SungHyek Kim4Makio Kashino5Shota Hagio6Shinya Fujii7Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, JapanNTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugi, JapanKeio Research Institute at SFC, Keio University, Fujisawa, JapanGraduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, JapanDepartment of Shizuoka Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tokoha University, Shizuoka, JapanNTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugi, JapanGraduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanFaculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, JapanMusician’s dystonia (MD) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions specifically triggered by playing an instrument. This condition often leads to a loss of fine motor control, threatening the careers of affected musicians. While MD is commonly associated with the hands, it can also affect the lower limbs, particularly in drummers. Understanding the muscle coordination involved in MD is crucial for comprehending its neurological mechanisms, yet the muscle coordination of lower-limb dystonia has not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to investigate the differences in lower-limb muscle synergies in a drummer with MD, utilizing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to analyze coordinated muscle activity patterns during drumming tasks. A 36-year-old male professional drummer with lower-limb MD was instructed to play a drum set in time with a metronome set at 80 beats per minute. The task involved striking the bass drum pedal in time with the downbeat. Electromyographic (EMG) data were collected from 10 muscles in the right lower limb. The data were analyzed using NMF to extract muscle synergies and compare the number of synergies, spatial modules, and temporal modules between the data with and without dystonia symptoms. The number of muscle synergies did not differ significantly between the data with and without symptoms. Notably, changes were observed in both the spatial and temporal modules of muscle synergies. Spatial modules revealed the appearance of dystonia-specific muscle synergy, which is considered related to compensatory movement. Temporal modules showed significant earlier overactivation in timing, which is considered the direct manifestation of dystonia symptoms. These findings indicate that lower-limb dystonia in drummers affects the spatial and temporal profiles of muscle synergies. This study underscores the importance of considering both spatial and temporal modules of muscle synergy in understanding and treating lower-limb dystonia in drummers. Further research is needed to validate these findings and apply muscle synergy analysis for the clinical assessment of lower-limb dystonia in drummers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1489143/fulldystoniadrummermuscle synergylower limbcoordination
spellingShingle Shizuka Sata
Kazuaki Honda
Satoshi Yamaguchi
Mizuki Komine
SungHyek Kim
Makio Kashino
Shota Hagio
Shinya Fujii
Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
Frontiers in Neurology
dystonia
drummer
muscle synergy
lower limb
coordination
title Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
title_full Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
title_fullStr Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
title_full_unstemmed Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
title_short Lower-limb muscle synergies in musician’s dystonia: a case study of a drummer
title_sort lower limb muscle synergies in musician s dystonia a case study of a drummer
topic dystonia
drummer
muscle synergy
lower limb
coordination
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1489143/full
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