Effect of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training on the Performance of Professional Male Trumpet Players.

BACKGROUND: Many trumpet players use breathing training devices in addition to their daily practice routine. Playing a brass instrument requires, besides many other skills, a controlled air stream to generate the necessary air pressures. On the trumpet, high intraoral pressures are needed, especially during high and loud notes. Therefore, it is not uncommon in trumpet pedagogy to teach that the use of breathing training devices enhances physical strength so that the required pressures can be produced with less effort. However, to date, no systematic assessment of the use of breathing training devices among trumpet players exists and their effect on playing performance is still unclear. METHODS: In this a pre-post, within-subject repeated measure study, we investigated the influence of a 5-week expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) upon trumpet performance. Twenty-four male professional trumpet players were allocated to either a control or intervention group. The intervention group (n =13) trained with an EMST device against a set resistance of 55% of their maximum expiratory pressure (MEP) for 5 weeks on 5 days per week. The control group (n =11) did no intervention. All participants underwent the same measures (MEP and rate of perceived exertion [RPE]) and played the same tasks (maximum long note, maximum high note, maximum dynamics and phrasing in high register) prior to and after the 5 weeks. RESULTS: After EMST, MEP increased significantly (13%, p = 0.049) in the intervention group, whereas no significant change was found in the control group. Performance parameters did not change in either of the groups, also after EMST. Despite the increase in MEP, we found no evidence that EMST has an influence on trumpet performance. CONCLUSION: We conclude that EMST seems unnecessary for the enhancement of trumpet playing, at least in a population of male professionals who already demonstrate excellent respiratory condition and control.

Sex-specific differences in adult cognition and neuroplasticity following repeated combinatory stress and TrkB receptor antagonism in adolescence.

Evidence supports brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its primary receptor tyrosine-related kinase B (TrkB) as targets in the treatment of mood disorders. This study characterized the impact of a 10-day combinatory stress paradigm (alternating days of restraint stress and forced swim) and administration of the selective TrkB antagonist ANA-12 (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) during adolescence in male and female Wistar rats on adulthood behavioral and neurochemical responses. The social interaction/preference (SIT/SP), and Y maze conditioned place preference (YMCPP) and passive avoidance tests (YMPAT), initiated on PND 62, served to determine sex-related behavioral responses. Results support reduced sociability in females in the SIT/SP, but no impact of ANA-12 to regulate sociability or social memory. Blockade of TrkB during adolescence facilitated YMCPP-related reward behavior in both sexes, and reduced YMPAT fear conditioning in females. Following behavioral testing, rats were exposed to 5-min acute forced swim and brains collected 2 h post swim to determine effects of adolescent TrkB blockade and stress exposure on neurochemical regulators of stress and plasticity. Findings show elevated glucocorticoid receptor (GR-) and TrkB-immunoreactivity (ir) in the amygdalar central nucleus, and GR-ir in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of females compared to males. In the hippocampal CA1, BDNF-ir was lower in females versus males, and GR-ir was elevated in stress versus non-stress males. Together, we demonstrate that inherent sex-specific differences, which may modulate impact of adolescence stress exposure and TrkB inhibition, differentially affect male and female adulthood behavior and biochemical response profiles, suggesting that these responses are in part conditioned by prior experience.

Using dual task walking as an aid to assess executive dysfunction ecologically in neurological populations: A narrative review.

Within rehabilitation, clinical assessment plays a crucial role in diagnosis, prognostication and making decisions about return to function. The ecological validity of the assessment of executive dysfunction has become a particular focus in neuropsychology and is gaining interest in mobility research and neurological rehabilitation of acquired brain injury or degenerative neurological diseases. In this narrative review, we look at how the task of walking and the inseparable cognitive demands and interference of the surrounding environment are exploited in dual task walking (DTW) paradigms to expose executive dysfunction. While quite a number of studies and reviews have recently focused on the utility of DTW for gait assessment, particularly to assess fall risk, very little consideration has been given to the level of ecological validity required. This paper directly addresses this issue with discussion of evidence and lacunas related to task, personal and technological factors that should be addressed in order to exploit fully DTW paradigms as an ecological assessment tool.

Executive dysfunction following a mild traumatic brain injury revealed in early adolescence with locomotor-cognitive dual-tasks.

OBJECTIVE: To compare gait parameters between children in early adolescence (EA) with and without a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) during dual-task walking (DTW). METHODS: Children in EA with mTBI (n = 14; six girls) were compared to those without (n = 13; five girls) while walking in different combinations of obstacle avoidance and cognitive dual-tasks. Gait speed and fluidity and their related dual-task costs (DTC) were analysed along with foot clearance and proximity to the obstacle. RESULTS: No group effects were found for gait speed, proximity or clearance, but were found for fluidity DTC, specifically during the dual Stroop task and when crossing the deeper obstacle. There were also group differences for fluidity during the planning of obstacle avoidance for the narrow obstacle combined with the verbal fluency task and the deep obstacle with no cognitive task. Finally, gait fluidity showed group differences across unobstructed dual-task situations. CONCLUSIONS: Gait fluidity may be a more sensitive variable than gait speed for revealing executive dysfunction following mTBI in EA. Assessing DTW in level walking also seems to show a potential to reveal executive dysfunctions in this age group. These results provide direction for future research on clinical assessment using DTW post-mTBI in adolescents.

A preliminary study to identify locomotor-cognitive dual tasks that reveal persistent executive dysfunction after mild traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To identify different combinations of physical (level, obstacle avoidance, stepping down) and cognitive (visual, mental) demands within a locomotor navigational context that best discriminates between persons with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and control subjects for an eventual clinical tool to assess residual executive dysfunction. DESIGN: Group comparison study. SETTING: Rehabilitation facility. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample (N=14) of persons with MTBI (n=7) (6 women; age, 20±1.6 y) and a comparison group (n=7) of subjects without neurologic problems (6 women; age, 22.4±1.4 y). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Gait speed (m/s) and dual-task cost calculated as the relative change in gait speed from single (no cognitive task) to dual tasks for the same gait condition. RESULTS: There were significant interactions between groups and cognitive tasks and between groups and cognitive and physical tasks for gait speed. Specifically, the MTBI group walked slower than control subjects in the dual-task conditions when stepping over an obstacle combined with each cognitive task. When gait speed was measured as dual-task costs, group differences were more evident, except for stepping down. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that both absolute gait speed and calculated dual-task costs during the combination of stepping over an obstacle with a simultaneous cognitive task are sensitive to revealing executive dysfunction in persons with MTBI. Gait speed can be easily measured in the clinic to provide important information to make diagnoses and decide about return to play or function. Continued work building on these preliminary results is needed toward the development of a clinical tool.

Coordination of breathing and various movement markers during pianists' performance tasks.

Few investigations have analysed the relations of breathing and pianists' movements. In past studies, however, coordination of breathing with repetitive movements were examined. The current experiment explored the coordinative relations of breathing with three different finger-movement markers (pitch, meter, and thumb passage) during the performance of repetitive exercises at the piano. Eight pianists played the C major scale and arpeggio at different tempi. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) data were collected and the pianists' respiration was simultaneously monitored by inductive plethysmography. Analysis showed that the breathing varied between participants. Other than some exceptional cases for which movement markers coincided with the end of inspiration and the end of expiration of the breathing curve, no coordination or relation occurred between breathing and finger movement.

The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown 1.0 on Working Patterns, Income, and Wellbeing Among Performing Arts Professionals in the United Kingdom (April-June 2020).

This article reports data collected from 385 performing arts professionals using the HEartS Professional Survey during the COVID-19 Lockdown 1.0 in the United Kingdom. Study 1 examined characteristics of performing arts professionals' work and health, and investigated how these relate to standardized measures of wellbeing. Study 2 examined the effects of the lockdown on work and wellbeing in the respondents' own words. Findings from Study 1 indicate a substantial reduction in work and income. 53% reported financial hardship, 85% reported increased anxiety, and 63% reported being lonelier than before the crisis. 61% sought support on finances while only 45% did so on health and wellbeing. Multiple regression analyses, using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and Three-Item Loneliness Scale as outcome variables, indicate that perceived financial hardship was associated with lower wellbeing and higher depression and loneliness scores. Higher self-rated health was associated with higher wellbeing and lower depression scores. More physical activity before lockdown was associated with higher wellbeing and social connectedness scores, as well as lower loneliness scores, and an increase in physical activity during lockdown compared with before, as well as older age, were associated with higher wellbeing and social connectedness scores, and lower depression and loneliness scores. Thematic inductive analysis of 341 open responses in Study 2 identified five overarching themes characterizing the effects of Lockdown 1.0: lost or uncertain work and income, including canceled work, financial concerns, and uncertainties for the future; constraints of lockdown working, including challenges of working at home, struggles with online work and skill maintenance, and caring responsibilities; loss and vulnerability, including reduced social connections, lack of support, vulnerability, feelings of loss and grief, and concern for others; detrimental effects on health and wellbeing, including anxiety, low or unstable mood, poorer physical health, and lack of motivation; and professional and personal opportunities, including coping well or living more healthily, more time and less pressure, new possibilities and activities, enhanced social connections, and new skills. Lockdown 1.0 had profound effects on performing arts professionals, but our findings reveal some opportunities and compelling links between positive wellbeing and physical activity.

Individual Differences in Children's Preference to Learn From a Confident Informant.

Past research has demonstrated that children can use an informant's confidence level to selectively choose from whom to learn. Yet, in any given study, not all children show a preference to learn from the most confident informant. Are individual differences in this preference stable over time and across learning situations? In two studies, we evaluated the stability of preschoolers' performance on selective learning tasks using confidence as a cue. The first study (N = 48) presented children with the same two informants, one confident and one hesitant, and the same four test trials twice with a 1-week delay between administrations. The second study (N = 50) presented two parallel tasks with different pairs of informants and test trials one after the other in the same testing session. Correlations between administrations were moderate in the first study and small in the second study, suggesting that children show some stability in their preference to learn from a confident individual but that their performance is also influenced by important situational factors, measurement error or both. Implications for the study of individual differences in selective social learning are discussed.

Chest wall dynamics and muscle recruitment during professional flute playing.

Respiratory parameters and sound were recorded during professional flute playing in order to assess what physiological processes were associated with the control of sound production that results in 'breath support' which in turn is associated with high quality playing. Four standing young professional flautists played flute excerpts with and without breath support. Recordings included optoelectronic plethysmographic measurements of chest wall volume (V(cw)) and its compartments, surface electromyography of the scalene, lateral abdominal, rectus abdominus, parasternal and sternocleidomastoid muscles, mouth pressure, and sound. Flow was estimated from differentiating V(cw) during playing. Results showed that flute support entails antagonistic contraction of non-diaphragmatic inspiratory muscles that tends to hold the rib cage at higher lung volume. This relieves the expiratory muscles from the task of producing the right mouth pressure, especially at the end of the phrases, so they can contribute more to the finer control of mouth pressure modulations required for high quality playing.

Kinematic Analysis of Pianists' Expressive Performances of Romantic Excerpts: Applications for Enhanced Pedagogical Approaches.

Established pedagogical theories for classical piano usually do not consider the essential relationship between the musical structure, whole body movements, and expression. Research focusing on musicians' expression has shown that body movements reflect the performer's understanding of the musical structure. However, most studies to date focus on the performance of a single piece at a time, leaving unanswered the question on how structural parameters of pieces with varied technical difficulties influence pianists' movements. In this study, 10 pianists performed three contrasting Romantic excerpts in terms of technical level and character, while motion data was collected with a passive infrared motion capture system. We observed how pianists modulate their performances for each of the three pieces and measured the absolute difference in percentage of duration and quantity of motion (QoM) between four expressive conditions (normal, deadpan, exaggerated, immobile). We analyzed common patterns within the time-series of position data to investigate whether pianists embody musical structure in similar ways. A survey was filled in by pianists to understand how they conceive the relationship between body movements and musical structure. Results show that the variation in duration between the exaggerated and deadpan conditions was significant in one measure for one of the excerpts, and that tempo was less affected by the QoM used than by the level of expression. By applying PCA on the pianists' position data, we found that the head QoM is an important parameter for communicating different expressions and structural features. Significant variations in head QoM were found in the immobile and deadpan conditions if compared to the normal condition, only in specific regions of the score. Recurrent head movements occurred along with certain structural parameters for two of the excerpts only. Altogether, these results indicate that the analysis of pianists' body movements and expressive intentions should be carried out in relation to the specific musical context, being dependent on the technical level of the pieces and the repertoire. These results, combined with piano teaching methods, may lead to the development of new approaches in instrumental lessons to help students make independent choices regarding body movements and expression.