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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Movement Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1398476

Drumming Performance and Underlying Muscle Activities in a Professional Rock Drummer with Lower-Limb Dystonia: A Case Study

Provisionally accepted
Kazuaki Honda Kazuaki Honda 1,2Shizuka Sata Shizuka Sata 1Mizuki Komine Mizuki Komine 1Satoshi Yamaguchi Satoshi Yamaguchi 3SungHyek Kim SungHyek Kim 4Makio Kashino Makio Kashino 2Shinya Fujii Shinya Fujii 5*
  • 1 Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
  • 2 NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Atsugi, Japan
  • 3 Keio Research Institute, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
  • 4 Tokoha University, Shizuoka, Japan
  • 5 Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Task-specific focal dystonia (TSFD), characterized by the loss of fine motor control and coordination, affects drummers’ lower-limb movements. This study explores lower-limb dystonia’s impact on drumming performance and underlying muscle activity in a professional rock drummer. The drummer executed an eight-beat pattern on a drum kit. The participant reported the occurrence of symptoms when he felt the abnormality such as the loss of control related to involuntary aspects of movement. We measured the peak amplitude of the bass drumhead vibration, synchronization errors as the time elapsed between the metronome onset and the bass drum onset, and amplitude of electromyographic (EMG) recordings centered on metronome beat. Dystonia symptoms primarily manifested in the initial beat, with fewer symptoms on syncopation of the third beat. Analysis revealed decreased bass-drum peak amplitude and earlier synchronization error during the initial beat. EMG measurements of ten muscles in the affected right lower limb showed significant changes in the Biceps Femoris (BF), Tibialis Anterior (TA), Extensor Digitorum Longus (EDL), and Extensor Digitorum Brevis (EDB) muscles during symptom onset. We observed 1) earlier overactivation of the TA and EDL muscles during the leg lift-up motion or preparatory phase of pedaling, 2) reduced activation of the EDB muscle, and 3) increased activation of the BF muscle during the final pedaling movement when symptoms occurred. These findings suggest that lower-limb dystonia symptoms are characterized by a reduction in amplitude of the bass drumhead vibration and an increase in synchronization error, potentially due to premature overactivation of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles.

    Keywords: task-specific focal dystonia, Drummer, Electromyography, Synchronization error, movement disorder

    Received: 10 Mar 2024; Accepted: 26 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Honda, Sata, Komine, Yamaguchi, Kim, Kashino and Fujii. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shinya Fujii, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Fujisawa, 252-0882, Kanagawa, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.