Shared Representations in Athletes: Segmenting Action Sequences From Taekwondo Reveals Implicit Agreement

How do athletes represent actions from their sport? How are these representations structured and which knowledge is shared among experts in the same discipline? To address these questions, the event segmentation task was used. Experts in Taekwondo and novices indicated how they would subjectively split videos of Taekwondo form sequences into meaningful units. In previous research, this procedure was shown to unveil the structure of internal action representations and to be affected by sensorimotor knowledge. Without specific instructions on the grain size of segmentation, experts tended to integrate over longer episodes which resulted in a lower number of single units. Moreover, in accordance with studies in figure-skating and basketball, we expected higher agreement among experts on where to place segmentation marks, i.e., boundaries. In line with this hypothesis, significantly more overlap of boundaries was found within the expert group as compared to the control group. This was observed even though the interindividual differences in the selected grain size were huge and expertise had no systematic influence here. The absence of obvious goals or objects to structure Taekwondo forms underlines the importance of shared expert knowledge. Further, experts might have benefited from sensorimotor skills which allowed to simulate the observed actions more precisely. Both aspects may explain stronger agreement among experts even in unfamiliar Taekwondo forms. These interpretations are descriptively supported by the participants’ statements about features which guided segmentation and by an overlap of the group’s agreed boundaries with those of an experienced referee. The study shows that action segmentation can be used to provide insights into structure and content of action representations specific to experts. The mechanisms underlying shared knowledge among Taekwondoists and among experts in general are discussed on the background of current theoretic frameworks.

Towards a Comprehensive Account of Rhythm Processing Issues in Developmental Dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is typically defined as a difficulty with an individual’s command of written language, arising from deficits in phonological awareness. However, motor entrainment difficulties in non-linguistic synchronization and time-keeping tasks have also been reported. Such findings gave rise to proposals of an underlying rhythm processing deficit in dyslexia, even though to date, evidence for impaired motor entrainment with the rhythm of natural speech is rather scarce, and the role of speech rhythm in phonological awareness is unclear. The present study aimed to fill these gaps. Dyslexic adults and age-matched control participants with variable levels of previous music training completed a series of experimental tasks assessing phoneme processing, rhythm perception, and motor entrainment abilities. In a rhythm entrainment task, participants tapped along to the perceived beat of natural spoken sentences. In a phoneme processing task, participants monitored for sonorant and obstruent phonemes embedded in nonsense strings. Individual sensorimotor skills were assessed using a number of screening tests. The results lacked evidence for a motor impairment or a general motor entrainment difficulty in dyslexia, at least among adult participants of the study. Instead, the results showed that the participants’ performance in the phonemic task was predictive of their performance in the rhythmic task, but not vice versa, suggesting that atypical rhythm processing in dyslexia may be the consequence, but not the cause, of dyslexic difficulties with phoneme-level encoding. No evidence for a deficit in the entrainment to the syllable rate in dyslexic adults was found. Rather, metrically weak syllables were significantly less often at the center of rhythmic attention in dyslexic adults as compared to neurotypical controls, with an increased tendency in musically trained participants. This finding could not be explained by an auditory deficit in the processing of acoustic-prosodic cues to the rhythm structure, but it is likely to be related to the well-documented auditory short-term memory issue in dyslexia.

Validating the Balance of Semi-Professional Dancers by Use of the Jenaer-Standing-Stability-Score (JESS-Score)

Introduction Postural control plays a central role in dance performance. The most dance styles contain manifold balance requirements. However, the data available on balance performance in dance is meagre. The dancers’ balancing ability depends on different components, which are still not totally understood. It can be assumed that standing stability as well as balance and therefore the test results of dancers are better than those of the recently published norm values. The aim of the study is to compare and verify the published standard values of the Jenaer-Standing-Stability-Score (JESS-Score). Material and Methods 24 dancers were included and measured with the first version of the recently published JESS-Score. 11 items include the assessment of mobility, sensorimotor skills, posture control and strength endurance. The dancers average test results are compared to the norm population. Results The dancers reached the norm or were even better concerning the tested items of the JESS-Score. Conclusion Standing stability and balance are basic requirements for dancing. The components measured by the JESS-Score are clearly involved in the equilibrium performance. Moreover, it shows the applicability of the JESS-Score norm values to a healthy, but untrained control population.

In Touch with the Heartbeat: Newborns’ Cardiac Sensitivity to Affective and Non-Affective Touch

The sense of touch is the first manner of contact with the external world, providing a foundation for the development of sensorimotor skills and socio-affective behaviors. In particular, affective touch is at the core of early interpersonal interactions and the developing bodily self, promoting the balance between internal physiological state and responsiveness to external environment. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether newborns are able to discriminate between affective touch and non-affective somatosensory stimulations and whether affective touch promotes a positive physiological state. We recorded full-term newborns’ (N = 30) heart rate variability (HRV)—which reflects oscillations of heart rate associated with autonomic cardio-respiratory regulation—while newborns were presented with two minutes of affective (stroking) and non-affective (tapping) touch alternated with two minutes of resting in a within-subject design. The results revealed that non-affective touch elicits a decrease in HRV, whereas affective touch does not result in a change of HRV possibly indicating maintenance of calm physiological state. Thus, newborns showed cardiac sensitivity to different types of touch, suggesting that early somatosensory stimulation represents scaffolding for development of autonomic self-regulation with important implications on infant’s ability to adaptively respond to the surrounding social and physical environment.

How Musicality, Cognition and Sensorimotor Skills Relate in Musically Untrained Children

Whereas a growing corpus of research has investigated the impact of music practice on several domains of cognition, studies on the relationships between musicality and other abilities and skills in musically untrained children are scarce. The present study examined the associations between musicality, cognition, and sensorimotor skills in 69 musically untrained primary school children of around 10 years of age, using a test battery of musical, cognitive, and sensorimotor abilities. We analyzed the results using nonparametric correlations and an exploratory factor analysis. It was our anticipation that basic cognitive resources (short-term and working memory, attention, processing speed) would relate to both higher-order cognition and musicality. Results indicated that, in musically untrained children, the interconnections between musical and cognitive abilities restrain to auditory short-term and working memory. Direct associations between musicality and higher-order cognitive processes did not occur. An interesting secondary finding comprised associations between sensorimotor function, as measured by the Purdue Pegboard test, and higher-order cognition. Specifically, we found an association between bimanual coordination of fine finger dexterity and matrix reasoning. This outcome suggests that higher-order cognitive function benefits from an efficient mastering of procedural aspects of sensorimotor skills.

Development and Pilot Validation of an Instrument Assessing Sensorimotor Skills for Percutaneous Gastral Puncture

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The acquisition of sensorimotor skills, so-called “technical skills”, plays an essential part in the professional and continuing educational training of medical and nursing staff. Facilities turn to simulator training to promote the safe and accurate performance of endoscopic examinations. Thus, this study aimed to develop and pilot-test a corresponding assessment instrument to monitor necessary sensorimotor or “technical” skills of the examiner for a safe percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (AS-PEG). <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> Instrument development and pilot validation involved four stages: identification of potential items and initial draft of the AS-PEG; expert panel with 11 experts (content validity index [CVI] calculated); empirical validation using a quasi-experimental intervention on simulators; revision of the pilot AS-PEG taking expert assessment, and empirical testing into consideration. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The initial instrument yielded 13 categories and 44 items describing the PEG procedure. Experts rated 30 out of 44 items (68%) extremely or very important for the safety of the puncture of the stomach. Initial item-CVIs ranged from 0.00 to 1.00; scale-CVI was 0.61. Twenty-four trainees (7 physicians, 17 nurses) participated in the pilot simulation study. On average, 8:25 min were required for PEG placement (min–max 5:59–13:38 min, SD = 1:43). The revised AS-PEG version was reduced to 14 items with a range of the item CVI from 0.8 to 1.0, and a scale-CVI of 0.90. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The AS-PEG instrument facilitates the evaluation of sensorimotor skills during percutaneous gastric puncture procedures within the context of PEG placement, across professions and without relating to the number of procedures previously performed. The instrument is economical and shows satisfying content validity.

Menstrual Cycle Modulates Motor Learning and Memory Consolidation in Humans

Numerous studies have noted that sex and/or menstrual phase influences cognitive performance (in particular, declarative memory), but the effects on motor learning (ML) and procedural memory/consolidation remain unclear. In order to test the hypothesis that ML differs across menstrual cycle phases, initial ML, overlearning, consolidation, and final performance were assessed in women in the follicular, preovulation and luteal phases. Primary motor cortex (M1) oscillations were assessed neuro-physiologically, and premenstrual syndrome and interoceptive awareness scores were assessed psychologically. We found not only poorer performance gain through initial ML but also lower final performance after overlearning a day and a week later in the luteal group than in the ovulation group. This behavioral difference could be explained by particular premenstrual syndrome symptoms and associated failure of normal M1 excitability in the luteal group. In contrast, the offline effects, i.e., early and late consolidation, did not differ across menstrual cycle phases. These results provide information regarding the best time in which to start learning new sensorimotor skills to achieve expected gains.

Understanding Violin Players’ Skill Level Based on Motion Capture: a Data-Driven Perspective

Learning to play and perform a music instrument is a complex cognitive task, requiring high conscious control and coordination of an impressive number of cognitive and sensorimotor skills. For professional violinists, there exists a physical connection with the instrument allowing the player to continuously manage the sound through sophisticated bowing techniques and fine hand movements. Hence, it is not surprising that great importance in violin training is given to right hand techniques, responsible for most of the sound produced. In this paper, our aim is to understand which motion features can be used to efficiently and effectively distinguish a professional performance from that of a student without exploiting sound-based features. We collected and made freely available a dataset consisting of motion capture recordings of different violinists with different skills performing different exercises covering different pedagogical and technical aspects. We then engineered peculiar features and trained a data-driven classifier to distinguish among two different levels of violinist experience, namely beginners and experts. In accordance with the hierarchy present in the dataset, we study two different scenarios: extrapolation with respect to different exercises and violinists. Furthermore, we study which features are the most predictive ones of the quality of a violinist to corroborate the significance of the results. The results, both in terms of accuracy and insight on the cognitive problem, support the proposal and support the use of the proposed technique as a support tool for students to monitor and enhance their home study and practice.