Examination by near-infrared spectroscopy for evaluation of piano performance as a frontal lobe activation task

The purpose of this study was to reveal the activation of the frontal lobe in piano performance by the use of near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants wereseven healthy volunteer music college students. The results of the examination showed a tendency towards an increase in total hemoglobin volume over a wider area in the frontal part of the brain during an appropriate piano task compared with an easy piano task or the Keio version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results suggest that piano performance is recognized as a frontal lobe-activating task and that performance of an appropriate piano task can be expected to elicit wider activation of the frontal lobe than an easy one.