Title |
The influence of chronotype on making music: circadian fluctuations in pianists' fine motor skills
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Published in |
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, January 2013
|
DOI | 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00347 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Floris T. Van Vugt, Katharina Treutler, Eckart Altenmüller, Hans-Christian Jabusch |
Abstract |
Making music on a professional level requires a maximum of sensorimotor precision. Chronotype-dependent fluctuations of sensorimotor precision in the course of the day may prove a challenge for musicians because public performances or recordings are usually scheduled at fixed times of the day. We investigated pianists' sensorimotor timing precision in a scale playing task performed in the morning and in the evening. Participants' chronotype was established through the Munich Chrono-Type Questionnaire, where mid-sleep time served as a marker for the individual chronotypes. Twenty-one piano students were included in the study. Timing precision was decomposed into consistent within-trial variability (irregularity) and residual, between-trial variability (instability). The timing patterns of late chronotype pianists were more stable in the evening than in the morning, whereas early chronotype pianists did not show a difference between the two recording timepoints. In sum, the present results indicate that even highly complex sensorimotor tasks such as music playing are affected by interactions between chronotype and the time of day. Thus, even long-term, massed practice of these expert musicians has not been able to wash out circadian fluctuations in performance. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United Kingdom | 2 | 18% |
United States | 2 | 18% |
Spain | 1 | 9% |
Brazil | 1 | 9% |
Ireland | 1 | 9% |
Canada | 1 | 9% |
Unknown | 3 | 27% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 5 | 45% |
Scientists | 3 | 27% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 27% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Japan | 1 | 2% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
Uruguay | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 54 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Bachelor | 9 | 16% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 14% |
Student > Master | 8 | 14% |
Researcher | 7 | 12% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 7% |
Other | 14 | 25% |
Unknown | 7 | 12% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 18 | 32% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 12% |
Arts and Humanities | 5 | 9% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 5% |
Neuroscience | 3 | 5% |
Other | 12 | 21% |
Unknown | 9 | 16% |