Temporal exploration in sequential movements shapes efficient neuromuscular control

The interaction of early and deliberate practice with genetic predisposition endows experts with virtuosic motor performance. However, it has not been known whether ways of practicing shape motor virtuosity. Here, we addressed this issue by comparing the effects of rhythmic variation in motor practice on neuromuscular control of the finger movements in pianists. With the use of a novel electromyography system with miniature active electrodes, we recorded the activity of the intrinsic hand muscles of 27 pianists while they played the piano and analyzed it by using a nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm and cluster analysis. The result demonstrated that practicing a target movement sequence with various rhythms reduced muscular activity, whereas neither practicing a sequence with a single rhythm nor taking a rest without practicing changed the activity. In addition, practice with rhythmic variation changed the patterns of simultaneous activations across muscles. This alteration of muscular coordination was associated with decreased activation of muscles not only relevant to, but also irrelevant to the task performance. In contrast, piano practice improved the maximum speed of the performance, the amount of which was independent of whether rhythmic variation was present. These results suggest that temporal variation in movement sequences during practice co-optimizes both movement speed and neuromuscular efficiency, which emphasizes the significance of ways of practice in the acquisition of motor virtuosity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A key question in motor neuroscience is whether “ways of practicing” contribute to shaping motor virtuosity. We found both attenuation of activities and alteration of coordination of the intrinsic hand muscles of pianists, specifically through practicing a movement sequence with various rhythms. The maximum speed of the finger movements was also enhanced following the practice. These results emphasize the importance of ways of practicing in facilitating multiple skills: efficiency and speed.