Cognitive Ergonomics and the Musician Part 2

Last time, we looked at brain mapping to learn more about how our central nervous system gets confused from the sheer amount of data any proficient musician goes through when practicing. Another area of research that sheds some interesting light on Focal Dystonia is the study of the relationship between musician and musical instrument. Using concepts from Activity Theory and flow/presence research, Drs. Nijs, Lesaffre, and Leman at Ghent University in Belgium seek to develop a music cognition framework that, when viewed in conjunction with Alan H D Watson's brain mapping research (the subject of last week's post), may at least explain the science behind neuroplasticity treatments of musicians with Focal Dystonia. I'm once again taking you down the rabbit hole here, but I found this area of research fascinating in that so many of the movement retraining pioneers I've spoken with talk about how the musician's relationship to their instrument disintegrates with injury. That the patient, upon entering the treatment room, will seek to place as much physical distance as possible between them and their instrument. One even likened herself to a marriage counselor between the two. So think of this as a little bit of self-help intervention between you and your bow. As with any relationship, communication is key, so it makes sense to take a look at what, questions inquiries have revealed in this nascent research. Activity Theory deals with the interaction between subject and environment, examining the unity of consciousness and activity, internalization and externalization. The dynamics between each can be easily applied to musical performance. Of particular importance, is the role of mediation, where musician and instrument are no longer separated but become one functional organ. Activity Theory says this mediation is crucial to achieving flow or presence. It allows the performer to execute her internalization of the music to an externalized performance, to bypass cognitive processing entirely. Because music performance exists in a very specified measure, distinguishing every action as a perceptual unit is impossible. It simply takes up way too much brainpower. Again, when viewed alongside brain mapping studies, you can see that insufficient rest in the motor learning process, along with an inability to achieve this unified action-perception coupling, sets the stage for the cortical problems associated with Focal Dystonia. An additional barrier to physical coupling necessary to achieve this flow/presence state, is inherent in the ergonomics of each instrument. Turns out the body actually serves the function of mediator between musician and instrument. But the player's posture and technical movement do not always sync with the movements the music suggests. The musical instrument then actually interferes with the body’s natural mediating role. The Ghent team postulates that the instrument must be incorporated with the body in order to provide the stable background necessary to achieve flow/presence. Flow/Presence Research shows that in order to achieve this optimal state, there must be a balance between the skills of the player and the challenges of the performance. The merging of activity and awareness characterized as Flow, also stimulates a learning process that can further long-term intuition, which may help with the problems, revealed in brain mapping in Focal Dystonia patients. While this research is only beginning to hit the tip of the iceberg, the Ghent team is enthusiastic, calling for additional studies. They note flow research has focused on the experience itself, instead of the role of the instrument. They say the mediated character of musical performance, along with the role of the body in that performance should also be studied further. Ergonomists would cheer at their conclusion. The Ghent team further notes that, "Except for a few exceptions we found no literature using Activity Theory to investigate music performance. Yet there are some essential parallels between Activity Theory and the embodied music cognition framework." THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AS A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE MUSICIAN Nijs, Luc, IPEM, Dpt. of Musicology, Ghent University (Belgium), luc.nijs@ugent.be Lesaffre, Micheline, IPEM, Dpt. of Musicology, Ghent University (Belgium), micheline.lesaffre@ugent.be Leman, Marc, IPEM, Dpt. of Musicology, Ghent University (Belgium), marc.leman@ugent.be https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/844863/file/944424.pdf @JillGambaro is the author of The Truth About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Through her book, website, and healthy musician guidance program, she advocates for patient engagement to help resolve carpal tunnel syndrome and keep musicians playing healthy. Follow Jill on her social channels.