Adaptation to unstable coordination patterns in individual and joint actions

Area of Science:

• Motor control
• Human movement science
• Cognitive neuroscience

Background:

• Stable coordination patterns (in-phase, anti-phase) act as attractors in rhythmic movement.
• Musicians demonstrate precise execution of non-canonical, less stable coordination patterns.
• The mechanisms enabling musicians' precise performance of unstable patterns remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate factors facilitating the production of unstable movement coordination patterns in musicians.
• Test if weaker coupling in joint performance aids unstable coordination compared to individual bimanual performance.
• Examine if structuring action effects (e.g., with melody) supports achieving unstable coordination patterns.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation paradigm used with participants possessing at least five years of musical instrument training.
• Compared adaptation to unstable coordination patterns in individual bimanual vs. joint interpersonal settings.
• Manipulated the structure of action effects by adding a melodic contour to assess its influence.

Main Results:

• Producing unstable coordination patterns was facilitated by weaker coupling during joint performance.
• Contrary to the hypothesis, strengthening action effects with a melodic contour did not aid in achieving unstable coordination patterns.
• Adaptation performance was assessed via asynchrony and its variability.

Conclusions:

• Weaker interpersonal coupling in joint performance supports the execution of non-canonical movement coordination patterns.
• Structuring action effects does not appear to enhance the acquisition of unstable coordination patterns in musicians.
• Findings suggest interpersonal dynamics play a crucial role in flexible motor coordination beyond canonical patterns.