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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Measurement & Analysis of the Temporal Discrimination Threshold Applied to Cervical Dystonia
Published on: January 27, 2018
Musician's dystonia and comorbid anxiety: two sides of one coin?
Leonie Enders1, June T Spector, Eckart Altenmüller
1Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine, Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media, Hannover, Germany.
Background:
Psychological abnormalities, including anxiety, have been observed in patients with musician's dystonia (MD). It is unclear if these conditions develop prior to MD or if they are psychoreactive phenomena.
Methods:
Psychological conditions were studied in 44 professional musicians with MD, 45 healthy musicians, and 44 healthy nonmusicians using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI).
Results:
Musicians with MD had significantly higher STAI state and trait anxiety scores than healthy musicians (P = .009 and P = .012, respectively) and nonmusicians (P = .013 and P = .001, respectively) and significantly higher NEO-FFI neuroticism scores than healthy musicians (P = .018) and nonmusicians (P = .001). Duration of dystonia did not correlate with anxiety or neuroticism scores.
Conclusions:
Musicians with MD display increased levels of anxiety and neuroticism. The lack of correlation between anxiety and the duration of dystonia suggests that anxiety may not be a psychoreactive phenomenon and is consistent with the hypothesis that anxiety and MD share a common pathophysiological mechanism.
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