Efficient interspecies transmission of synthetic prions.

Prions are comprised solely of PrPSc, the misfolded self-propagating conformation of the cellular protein, PrPC. Synthetic prions are generated in vitro from minimal components and cause bona fide prion disease in animals. It is unknown, however, if synthetic prions can cross the species barrier following interspecies transmission. To investigate this, we inoculated Syrian hamsters with murine synthetic prions. We found that all the animals inoculated with murine synthetic prions developed prion disease characterized by a striking uniformity of clinical onset and signs of disease. Serial intraspecies transmission resulted in a rapid adaptation to hamsters. During the adaptation process, PrPSc electrophoretic migration, glycoform ratios, conformational stability and biological activity as measured by protein misfolding cyclic amplification remained constant. Interestingly, the strain that emerged shares a strikingly similar transmission history, incubation period, clinical course of disease, pathology and biochemical and biological features of PrPSc with 139H, a hamster adapted form of the murine strain 139A. Combined, these data suggest that murine synthetic prions are comprised of bona fide PrPSc with 139A-like strain properties that efficiently crosses the species barrier and rapidly adapts to hamsters resulting in the emergence of a single strain. The efficiency and specificity of interspecies transmission of murine synthetic prions to hamsters, with relevance to brain derived prions, could be a useful model for identification of structure function relationships between PrPSc and PrPC from different species.

Characterization and Systemic Delivery of Dibenzoylmethane via the Intranasal Route.

Intranasal (IN) administration is known to be noninvasive with the potential to carry a drug or vaccine directly to the blood, bypassing first-pass metabolism in the liver and the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal system. Orally administered dibenzoylmethane (DBM) has been shown experimentally to be neuroprotective in animal models of tauopathy and prion disease and effective in the treatment of certain forms of cancers. The purpose of this study was to prepare, characterize, and test formulations of DBM designed for IN administration. DBM was formulated in brain homogenate (BH) and hypromellose and as nanoparticles (NPs). These formulations were detected using UPLC and characterized in solid and suspension states; NPs were also characterized by in vitro cell culture-based studies. Particle size for DBM NP was 163.8 ± 3.2 nm, and in vitro release studies showed 95.80% of DBM was released from the NPs within 8 days. In vitro cell, culture studies suggested no drug uptake until 6 h. A histological analysis of nasal cavity (NC) sections and blood detection studies were carried out 30 min after inhalation. DBM amounting to 40.77 ± 4.93 and 44.45 ± 5.36 ng/mL was detected in the blood of animals administered DBM in polymeric and NP formulation, respectively. Histological studies on NCs confirmed the presence of BH within lymphatic vessels in the lamina propria of each animal; BH was identified traversing the mucosa in 2 animals. Thus, formulations for DBM administered via IN route were successfully designed and characterized and able to cross the nasal mucosa following inhalation.

PrPSc formation and clearance as determinants of prion tropism.

Prion strains are characterized by strain-specific differences in neuropathology but can also differ in incubation period, clinical disease, host-range and tissue tropism. The hyper (HY) and drowsy (DY) strains of hamster-adapted transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) differ in tissue tropism and susceptibility to infection by extraneural routes of infection. Notably, DY TME is not detected in the secondary lymphoreticular system (LRS) tissues of infected hosts regardless of the route of inoculation. We found that similar to the lymphotropic strain HY TME, DY TME crosses mucosal epithelia, enters draining lymphatic vessels in underlying laminae propriae, and is transported to LRS tissues. Since DY TME causes disease once it enters the peripheral nervous system, the restriction in DY TME pathogenesis is due to its inability to establish infection in LRS tissues, not a failure of transport. To determine if LRS tissues can support DY TME formation, we performed protein misfolding cyclic amplification using DY PrPSc as the seed and spleen homogenate as the source of PrPC. We found that the spleen environment can support DY PrPSc formation, although at lower rates compared to lymphotropic strains, suggesting that the failure of DY TME to establish infection in the spleen is not due to the absence of a strain-specific conversion cofactor. Finally, we provide evidence that DY PrPSc is more susceptible to degradation when compared to PrPSc from other lymphotrophic strains. We hypothesize that the relative rates of PrPSc formation and clearance can influence prion tropism.

Incongruity between Prion Conversion and Incubation Period following Coinfection.

UNLABELLED: When multiple prion strains are inoculated into the same host, they can interfere with each other. Strains with long incubation periods can suppress conversion of strains with short incubation periods; however, nothing is known about the conversion of the long-incubation-period strain during strain interference. To investigate this, we inoculated hamsters in the sciatic nerve with long-incubation-period strain 139H prior to superinfection with the short-incubation-period hyper (HY) strain of transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME). First, we found that 139H is transported along the same neuroanatomical tracks as HY TME, adding to the growing body of evidence indicating that PrP(Sc) favors retrograde transneuronal transport. In contrast to a previous report, we found that 139H interferes with HY TME infection, which is likely due to both strains targeting the same population of neurons following sciatic nerve inoculation. Under conditions where 139H blocked HY TME from causing disease, the strain-specific properties of PrP(Sc) corresponded with the strain that caused disease, consistent with our previous findings. In the groups of animals where incubation periods were not altered, we found that the animals contained a mixture of 139H and HY TME PrP(Sc) This finding expands the definition of strain interference to include conditions where PrP(Sc) formation is altered yet disease outcome is unaltered. Overall, these results contradict the premise that prion strains are static entities and instead suggest that strain mixtures are dynamic regardless of incubation period or clinical outcome of disease. IMPORTANCE: Prions can exist as a mixture of strains in naturally infected animals, where they are able to interfere with the conversion of each other and to extend incubation periods. Little is known, however, about the dynamics of strain conversion under conditions where incubation periods are not affected. We found that inoculation of the same animal with two strains can result in the alteration of conversion of both strains under conditions where the resulting disease was consistent with infection with only a single strain. These data challenge the idea that prion strains are static and suggests that strain mixtures are more dynamic than previously appreciated. This observation has significant implications for prion adaptation.

Immediate and Ongoing Detection of Prions in the Blood of Hamsters and Deer following Oral, Nasal, or Blood Inoculations.

Infectious prions traverse epithelial barriers to gain access to the circulatory system, yet the temporal parameters of transepithelial transport and persistence in the blood over time remain unknown. We used whole-blood real-time quaking-induced conversion (wbRT-QuIC) to analyze whole blood collected from transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE)-inoculated deer and hamsters throughout the incubation period for the presence of common prion protein-conversion competent amyloid (PrPCCCA). We observed PrPC-CCA in the blood of TSE-inoculated hosts throughout the disease course from minutes postexposure to terminal disease.

Rapid transepithelial transport of prions following inhalation.

Prion infection and pathogenesis are dependent on the agent crossing an epithelial barrier to gain access to the recipient nervous system. Several routes of infection have been identified, but the mechanism(s) and timing of in vivo prion transport across an epithelium have not been determined. The hamster model of nasal cavity infection was used to determine the temporal and spatial parameters of prion-infected brain homogenate uptake following inhalation and to test the hypothesis that prions cross the nasal mucosa via M cells. A small drop of infected or uninfected brain homogenate was placed below each nostril, where it was immediately inhaled into the nasal cavity. Regularly spaced tissue sections through the entire extent of the nasal cavity were processed immunohistochemically to identify brain homogenate and the disease-associated isoform of the prion protein (PrP(d)). Infected or uninfected brain homogenate was identified adhering to M cells, passing between cells of the nasal mucosa, and within lymphatic vessels of the nasal cavity at all time points examined. PrP(d) was identified within a limited number of M cells 15 to 180 min following inoculation, but not in the adjacent nasal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT). While these results support M cell transport of prions, larger amounts of infected brain homogenate were transported paracellularly across the respiratory, olfactory, and follicle-associated epithelia of the nasal cavity. These results indicate that prions can immediately cross the nasal mucosa via multiple routes and quickly enter lymphatics, where they can spread systemically via lymph draining the nasal cavity.

The strain-encoded relationship between PrP replication, stability and processing in neurons is predictive of the incubation period of disease.

Prion strains are characterized by differences in the outcome of disease, most notably incubation period and neuropathological features. While it is established that the disease specific isoform of the prion protein, PrP(Sc), is an essential component of the infectious agent, the strain-specific relationship between PrP(Sc) properties and the biological features of the resulting disease is not clear. To investigate this relationship, we examined the amplification efficiency and conformational stability of PrP(Sc) from eight hamster-adapted prion strains and compared it to the resulting incubation period of disease and processing of PrP(Sc) in neurons and glia. We found that short incubation period strains were characterized by more efficient PrP(Sc) amplification and higher PrP(Sc) conformational stabilities compared to long incubation period strains. In the CNS, the short incubation period strains were characterized by the accumulation of N-terminally truncated PrP(Sc) in the soma of neurons, astrocytes and microglia in contrast to long incubation period strains where PrP(Sc) did not accumulate to detectable levels in the soma of neurons but was detected in glia similar to short incubation period strains. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that a decrease in conformational stability results in a corresponding increase in replication efficiency and suggest that glia mediated neurodegeneration results in longer survival times compared to direct replication of PrP(Sc) in neurons.

Liposomes and transferosomes in the delivery of papain for the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars.

Hypertrophic scars and keloids are characterized by an excessive collagen deposition. The available treatment options are invasive and can result in recurrence of scar formation. Using liposomes and transferosomes for the topical delivery of papain, a proteolytic enzyme, can be effective treatment. The objective of the study is to formulate papain-loaded liposomes and transferosomes, characterize the formulations, and study in vitro permeation using shed snake skin and Sprague-Dawley rat skin as models for stratum corneum and full thickness skin. Papain-loaded liposomes and transferosomes were formulated using the thin-film hydration method for the delivery of papain across the stratum corneum barrier. An in vitro permeation study carried out using shed-snake skin and Sprague-Dawley rat skin models showed that transferosomes were able to deliver papain across the stratum corneum barrier, while papain solution and papain liposomes were not able to cross the barrier. However, transferosomes were not able to deliver papain across the full thickness rat skin model suggesting the deposition of papain loaded transferosomes in the epidermal or dermal layer of skin. In addition, an ex-vivo model was used to analyze the effect of papain exposure on the morphology of the epidermis taken from rat skin exposed to papain solution, papain in transferosomes and papain in liposomes. Papain in solution resulted in a noticeable degradation of the epidermis, but when embedded in either transferosomes or liposomes there was no noticeable change when compared to control animals. The cytotoxicity study performed using HeLa cells showed that the cells were viable at papain concentrations lower than 0.01 mg/ml.

Expression of the cellular prion protein by mast cells in the human carotid body.

Prion diseases are fatal neurologic disorders that can be transmitted by blood transfusion. The route for neuroinvasion following exposure to infected blood is not known. Carotid bodies (CBs) are specialized chemosensitive structures that detect the concentration of blood gasses and provide feedback for the neural control of respiration. Sensory cells of the CB are highly perfused and densely innervated by nerves that are synaptically connected to the brainstem and thoracic spinal cord, known to be areas of early prion deposition following oral infection. Given their direct exposure to blood and neural connections to central nervous system (CNS) areas involved in prion neuroinvasion, we sought to determine if there were cells in the human CB that express the cellular prion protein (PrPC), a characteristic that would support CBs serving as a route for prion neuroinvasion. We collected CBs from cadaver donor bodies and determined that mast cells located in the carotid bodies express PrPC and that these cells are in close proximity to blood vessels, nerves, and nerve terminals that are synaptically connected to the brainstem and spinal cord.

Transport of Prions in the Peripheral Nervous System: Pathways, Cell Types, and Mechanisms.

Prion diseases are transmissible protein misfolding disorders that occur in animals and humans where the endogenous prion protein, PrPC, undergoes a conformational change into self-templating aggregates termed PrPSc. Formation of PrPSc in the central nervous system (CNS) leads to gliosis, spongiosis, and cellular dysfunction that ultimately results in the death of the host. The spread of prions from peripheral inoculation sites to CNS structures occurs through neuroanatomical networks. While it has been established that endogenous PrPC is necessary for prion formation, and that the rate of prion spread is consistent with slow axonal transport, the mechanistic details of PrPSc transport remain elusive. Current research endeavors are primarily focused on the cellular mechanisms of prion transport associated with axons. This includes elucidating specific cell types involved, subcellular machinery, and potential cofactors present during this process.

Coinfecting prion strains compete for a limiting cellular resource.

Prion strain interference can influence the emergence of a dominant strain from a mixture; however, the mechanisms underlying prion strain interference are poorly understood. In our model of strain interference, inoculation of the sciatic nerve with the drowsy (DY) strain of the transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) agent prior to superinfection with the hyper (HY) strain of TME can completely block HY TME from causing disease. We show here that the deposition of PrP(Sc), in the absence of neuronal loss or spongiform change, in the central nervous system corresponds with the ability of DY TME to block HY TME infection. This suggests that DY TME agent-induced damage is not responsible for strain interference but rather prions compete for a cellular resource. We show that protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) of DY and HY TME maintains the strain-specific properties of PrP(Sc) and replicates infectious agent and that DY TME can interfere, or completely block, the emergence of HY TME. DY PrP(Sc) does not convert all of the available PrP(C) to PrP(Sc) in PMCA, suggesting the mechanism of prion strain interference is due to the sequestering of PrP(C) and/or other cellular components required for prion conversion. The emergence of HY TME in PMCA was controlled by the initial ratio of the TME agents. A higher ratio of DY to HY TME agent is required for complete blockage of HY TME in PMCA compared to several previous in vivo studies, suggesting that HY TME persists in animals coinfected with the two strains. This was confirmed by PMCA detection of HY PrP(Sc) in animals where DY TME had completely blocked HY TME from causing disease.

The Role of the Nasal Cavity in the Pathogenesis of Prion Diseases.

Prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), are a class of fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by the entry and spread of infectious prion proteins (PrPSc) in the central nervous system (CNS). These diseases are endemic to certain mammalian animal species that use their sense of smell for a variety of purposes and therefore expose their nasal cavity (NC) to PrPSc in the environment. Prion diseases that affect humans are either inherited due to a mutation of the gene that encodes the prion protein, acquired by exposure to contaminated tissues or medical devices, or develop without a known cause (referred to as sporadic). The purpose of this review is to identify components of the NC that are involved in prion transport and to summarize the evidence that the NC serves as a route of entry (centripetal spread) and/or a source of shedding (centrifugal spread) of PrPSc, and thus plays a role in the pathogenesis of the TSEs.

Prion strain targeting independent of strain-specific neuronal tropism.

While neuropathological features that define prion strains include spongiform degeneration and deposition patterns of PrP(Sc), the underlying mechanism for the strain-specific differences in PrP(Sc) targeting is not known. To investigate prion strain targeting, we inoculated hamsters in the sciatic nerve with either the hyper (HY) or drowsy (DY) strain of the transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) agent. Both TME strains were initially retrogradely transported in the central nervous system (CNS) exclusively by four descending motor tracts. The locations of HY and DY PrP(Sc) deposition were identical throughout the majority of the incubation period. However, differences in PrP(Sc) deposition between these strains were observed upon development of clinical disease. The differences observed were unlikely to be due to strain-specific neuronal tropism, since comparison of PrP(Sc) deposition patterns by different routes of infection indicated that all brain areas were susceptible to prion infection by both TME strains. These findings suggest that prion transport and differential susceptibility to prion infection are not solely responsible for prion strain targeting. The data suggest that differences in PrP(Sc) distribution between strains during clinical disease are due to differences in the length of time that PrP(Sc) has to spread in the CNS before the host succumbs to disease.

Failure To Detect Prion Infectivity in Ticks following Prion-Infected Blood Meal.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging and fatal contagious prion disease that affects cervids, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, red deer reindeer, elk, and moose. CWD prions are widely distributed throughout the bodies of CWD-infected animals and are found in the nervous system, lymphoid tissues, muscle, blood, urine, feces, and antler velvet. The mechanism of CWD transmission in natural settings is unknown. Potential mechanisms of transmission include horizontal, maternal, or environmental routes. Due to the presence of prions in the blood of CWD-infected animals, the potential exists for invertebrates that feed on mammalian blood to contribute to the transmission of CWD. The geographic range of the Rocky Mountain Wood tick, Dermancentor andersoni, overlaps with CWD throughout the northwest United States and southwest Canada, raising the possibility that D. andersoni parasitization of cervids may be involved in CWD transmission. We investigated this possibility by examining the blood meal of D. andersoni that fed upon prion-infected hamsters for the presence of prion infectivity by animal bioassay. None of the hamsters inoculated with a D. andersoni blood meal that had been ingested from prion-infected hamsters developed clinical signs of prion disease or had evidence for a subclinical prion infection. Overall, the data do not demonstrate a role for D. andersoni in the transmission of prion disease.IMPORTANCE Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an emerging prion disease that affects cervids, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, red deer reindeer, elk, and moose. The mechanism of CWD transmission in unknown. Due to the presence of prions in the blood of CWD-infected animals, it is possible for invertebrates that feed on cervid blood to contribute to the transmission of CWD. We examined the blood meal of D. andersoni, a tick with a similar geographic range as cervids, that fed upon prion-infected hamsters for the presence of prion infectivity by animal bioassay. None of the D. andersoni blood meals that had been ingested from prion-infected hamsters yielded evidence of prion infection. Overall, the data do not support a role of D. andersoni in the transmission of prion disease.

Long-term safety evaluation of a novel oxygen-coordinated niacin-bound chromium (III) complex.

Chromium (III) is an essential micronutrient required for normal protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as helps insulin metabolize fat, turn protein into muscle and convert sugar into energy. A broad spectrum of research investigations including in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies demonstrated the beneficial effects of novel oxygen- coordinated niacin-bound chromium (III) complex (NBC) in promoting glucose-insulin sensitivity, lipid profile, cardioprotective ability and lean body mass. This study examined the long-term safety of NBC by orally administering either 0 or 25 ppm or the human equivalency dose of 1000 microg elemental chromium (III) as NBC per day for 52 consecutive weeks to male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals of each group and each gender were sacrificed on 26, 39, or 52 weeks of treatment. Body weight, physical and ocular health, feed and water intake, selected organ weights as such and as a percentage of liver and brain weight, hepatic lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation, hematology and clinical chemistry, and histopathological evaluations were conducted. At 26, 39, or 52 weeks of treatment, body weight gain was significantly reduced by 7.7%, 8.1% and 14.9% in male rats, and 5.5%, 11.4% and 9.6% in female rats, respectively, in the NBC treatment groups. No significant changes were observed in hepatic lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation, hematology and clinical chemistry, and histopathological evaluation between control and NBC groups at these time points. These findings, thus far, are in agreement with the subchronic studies in terms of the safety of NBC.

Enhanced neuroinvasion by smaller, soluble prions.

Infectious prion aggregates can propagate from extraneural sites into the brain with remarkable efficiency, likely transported via peripheral nerves. Yet not all prions spread into the brain, and the physical properties of a prion that is capable of transit within neurons remain unclear. We hypothesized that small, diffusible aggregates spread into the CNS via peripheral nerves. Here we used a structurally diverse panel of prion strains to analyze how the prion conformation impacts transit into the brain. Two prion strains form fibrils visible ultrastructurally in the brain in situ, whereas three strains form diffuse, subfibrillar prion deposits and no visible fibrils. The subfibrillar strains had significantly higher levels of soluble prion aggregates than the fibrillar strains. Primary neurons internalized both the subfibrillar and fibril-forming prion strains by macropinocytosis, and both strain types were transported from the axon terminal to the cell body in vitro. However in mice, only the predominantly soluble, subfibrillar prions, and not the fibrillar prions, were efficiently transported from the tongue to the brain. Sonicating a fibrillar prion strain increased the solubility and enabled prions to spread into the brain in mice, as evident by a 40% increase in the attack rate, indicating that an increase in smaller particles enhances prion neuroinvasion. Our data suggest that the small, highly soluble prion particles have a higher capacity for transport via nerves. These findings help explain how prions that predominantly assemble into subfibrillar states can more effectively traverse into and out of the CNS, and suggest that promoting fibril assembly may slow the neuron-to-neuron spread of protein aggregates.

Safety and toxicological evaluation of a novel niacin-bound chromium (III) complex.

Chromium is an essential trace element required for normal protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. It also helps in energy production and increasing lean body mass. Niacin-bound chromium (NBC) is a unique form of bioavailable chromium that promotes healthy lipid profile. This study was focused on determining the broad spectrum safety of NBC. Acute oral, acute dermal, primary dermal irritation and primary eye irritation toxicities of NBC were evaluated. Ames bacterial reverse mutation assay, mouse lymphoma test and a dose-dependent 90-day subchronic toxicity were also conducted. In safety studies, the acute oral LD(50) of NBC was found to be greater then 5000 mg/kg in both male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. No changes in body weight or adverse effects were observed following necropsy. The acute dermal LD(50) of NBC was found to be >2000 mg/kg. The primary skin irritation test was conducted with NBC on New Zealand Albino rabbits. NBC was classified as slightly irritating. The primary eye irritation test was conducted with NBC on rabbits. NBC was classified as practically non-irritating to the eye. NBC did not induce mutagenic effects in the bacterial reverse mutation test in five Salmonella typhimurium strains (TA1535, TA98, TA100, TA97a and TA102), either with or without metabolic activation. Similarly, NBC did not induce mutagenic effects in the mammalian cell gene mutation test in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells TK (+/-), either with or without metabolic activation. A dose-dependent 90-day subchronic toxicity study demonstrated no significant changes in selected organ weights individually and as percentages of body and brain weights. NBC supplementation did not cause changes in hepatic lipid peroxidation or DNA fragmentation after 30, 60 or 90 days of treatment. Hematology, clinical chemistry and histopathological evaluations did not show any adverse effects in all organs tested. Taken together, the above results indicate a broad spectrum of safety for NBC.

Nasal associated lymphoid tissue of the Syrian golden hamster expresses high levels of PrPC.

The key event in the pathogenesis of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies is a template-dependent misfolding event where an infectious isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc) comes into contact with native prion protein (PrPC) and changes its conformation to PrPSc. In many extraneurally inoculated models of prion disease this PrPC misfolding event occurs in lymphoid tissues prior to neuroinvasion. The primary objective of this study was to compare levels of total PrPC in hamster lymphoid tissues involved in the early pathogenesis of prion disease. Lymphoid tissues were collected from golden Syrian hamsters and Western blot analysis was performed to quantify PrPC levels. PrPC immunohistochemistry (IHC) of paraffin embedded tissue sections was performed to identify PrPC distribution in tissues of the lymphoreticular system. Nasal associated lymphoid tissue contained the highest amount of total PrPC followed by Peyer's patches, mesenteric and submandibular lymph nodes, and spleen. The relative levels of PrPC expression in IHC processed tissue correlated strongly with the Western blot data, with high levels of PrPC corresponding with a higher percentage of PrPC positive B cell follicles. High levels of PrPC in lymphoid tissues closely associated with the nasal cavity could contribute to the relative increased efficiency of the nasal route of entry of prions, compared to other routes of infection.

Repetitive motion in perception of tactile sensation in the fingers of string players.

Little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the pathophysiology involved in the development of cumulative trauma disorders. Musicians, specifically string players, may be a useful model to examine the cumulative effects of repetitive motion given the highly attended movements of their left hands and the stereotypical grasp of their right hands. Musculoskeletal disorders related to playing are experienced by 39% to 87% of musicians, making musicians a potentially good model for the study of factors involved in development of cumulative trauma disorders. Sensory thresholds for two-point discrimination and light touch were measured in all phalanges of each digit, of each hand. Comparisons were made within and between a control group of 10 nonmusicians who did not engage in repetitive motion and 10 healthy musicians who did. There were 5 violinists, 2 violists, and 3 cellists. The Non-musician group perceived two-points and light touch at significantly lower thresholds in the proximal phalanges of the left hand than the right hand. Significant differences were not present between right and left hands for the means of distal, middle, and proximal phalanges of the Musician group. This lack of significant difference may be due to higher sensory thresholds associated with repetitive use of the left hand of the musicians.

Assessment of fine motor skill in musicians and nonmusicians: differences in timing versus sequence accuracy in a bimanual fingering task.

While professional musicians are generally considered to possess better control of finger movements than nonmusicians, relatively few reports have experimentally addressed the nature of this discrepancy in fine motor skills. For example, it is unknown whether musicians perform with greater skill than control subjects in all aspects of different types of fine motor activities. More specifically, it is not known whether musicians perform better than control subjects on a fine motor task that is similar, but not identical, to the playing of their primary instrument. The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of finger placement and accuracy of timing in professional musicians and nonmusicians using a simple, rhythmical, bilateral fingering pattern and the technology that allowed separate assessment of these two parameters. Professional musicians (other than pianists) and nonmusicians were given identical, detailed and explicit instructions but not allowed physically to practice the finger pattern. After verbally repeating the correct pattern for the investigator, subjects performed the task on an electric keyboard with both hands simultaneously. Each subject's performance was then converted to a numerical score. While musicians clearly demonstrated better accuracy in timing, no significant difference was found between the groups in their finger placement scores. These findings were not correlated with subjects' age, sex, limb dominance, or primary instrument (for the professional musicians). This study indicates that professional musicians perform better in timing accuracy but not spatial accuracy while executing a simple, novel, bimanual motor sequence.