Benefits of keyboard playing in people with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy results from injury to or abnormal development of the brain, with various problems in movement, posture, and other behavioral functions.
Researchers at the Graduate School of Education and Ewha Music Rehabilitation Center, in Seoul, Korea, studied the effects of Therapeutic Instrument Music Performance (TIMP) for fine motor exercises in adults with cerebral palsy.
First, the details.
- 5 individuals with cerebral palsy received 12, 30-minute TIMP sessions, 2 days per week for 6 to 9 weeks.
- TIMP technique uses instruments (a keyboard in this case) to reinforce functional motor patterns and does not require previous music skills.
- The music used was selected by the participants, taking the melodic line as the main theme played repeatedly with their fingers.
- In the second half of the training, extended melody was played to maximize the range of motion among the fingers.
- Warm-up activity was used.
- Results were compared to 20 normal adults
- Pre- and post-Music Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data were used as a measure of hand function.
- MIDI represents musical information (note, instrument, volume, pitch, expression, tempo, length, etc.) in bits of digital information.
And, the results.
- Pre-velocity was significantly different from that recorded from 20 typical adults.
- Post-velocity no longer was significantly different, specifically in the second and fifth fingers.
- This indicates improved hand function for the adults with cerebral palsy.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “The finding implies that TIMP using keyboard playing may effectively improve manual dexterity and velocity of finger movement.”
The use of a wrist pad seemed effective to reinforce the keyboard playing of adults with cerebral palsy.
1/2/14 9:48 JR
