Motor Cortical Fields and Rhythmic Coordination of The Hands in Music Performance

Abstract

This chapter will not be dealing exclusively with music but with general motor and skill performance, which includes playing music. We are interested not so much in the sensory side (listening to music) but more in the motor side (playing music), e.g., when playing rhythms. When an individual makes a voluntary movement, such as moving the finger, which is also important in music playing, when, for example, pressing down a key on a piano or a string on the fingerboard of a violin or cello, then the brain prepares for this movement. By recording the EEG of such a subject and focusing on the DCwaves, we can record from the brain the signals in conjunction with such preparation for movement. Many signals are contained in the EEG: Evoked potentials following an event, coherence patterns that accompany music processing (Petsche et al., this volume) or DC-EEG in music processing (Beisteiner, this volume). Our group has been interested in slow potential shifts preceding voluntary movement for 30 years now (Komhuber and Deecke 1964, 1965). The negative shift occurring under these circumstances is called the Bereitschaftspotential (BP) or readiness potential, which starts as early as 1 to 2 s prior to the onset of movement. Negativity implies that the cortical area under study is active, positivity means that it is inactive.