Timing Training in Female Soccer Players: Effects on Skilled Movement Performance and Brain Responses

Timing Training in Female Soccer Players: Effects on Skilled Movement Performance and Brain Responses. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Article link.

Marius Sommer, Charlotte K. Häger, Carl Johan Boraxbekk and Louise Rönnqvist

Abstract

Although trainers and athletes consider “good timing skills” critical for optimal sport
performance, little is known in regard to how sport-specific skills may benefit from timing training. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of timing training on soccer skill performance and the associated changes in functional brain response in elite- and sub-elite female soccer players. Twenty-five players (mean age 19.5 years; active in the highest or second highest divisions in Sweden), were randomly assigned to either an experimental- or a control group. The experimental group (n = 12) was subjected to a 4-week program (12 sessions) of synchronized metronome training (SMT). We evaluated effects on accuracy and variability in a soccer cross-pass task. The associated brain response was captured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while watching videos with soccer-specific actions. SMT improved soccer cross-pass performance, with a significant increase in outcome accuracy, combined with a decrease in outcome variability. SMT further induced changes in the underlying brain response associated with observing a highly familiar soccer-specific action, denoted as decreased activation in the cerebellum post SMT. Finally, decreased cerebellar activation was associated with improved cross-pass performance and sensorimotor synchronization. These findings suggest a more efficient neural recruitment during action observation after SMT. To our knowledge, this is the first controlled study providing behavioral and neurophysiological evidence that timing training may positively influence soccer-skill, while strengthening the action-perception coupling via enhanced sensorimotor synchronization abilities, and thus influencing the underlying brain responses.

Conclusion

In summary, this is the first controlled study demonstrating that improved motor timing and multisensory integration, as an effect of SMT, also is associated with changes in functional brain response. The present study provides both behavioral and neurophysiological evidence that timing training positively influences soccer-skill, strengthens the action-perception coupling by means of enhanced sensorimotor synchronization abilities, and affect underlying brain responses. These findings are in accordance with the idea that SMT may result in increased brain communication efficiency and synchrony between brain regions (McGrew, 2013), which in the present study was evident by reduced activation within brain areas important for temporal planning, movement coordination and action recognition and understanding (cerebellum). Also, our results complement findings indicating that the cerebellum plays an important role in the action-perception coupling (Christensenetal.,2014),and confirm recent theories supporting a cognitive-perceptual role of the cerebellum (e.g., Roth et al., 2013).Probing the influence of timing training on the underlying brain activation during soccer specific action observation is an important approach as it provides a window into the brain plasticity associated with non-task specific (timing) training, and to the underlying brain activation of skilled performance. The present study suggests that the underlying brain activation during action observation, which is claimed to be important for action recognition and understanding (e.g., Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004), may be influenced in other ways than through task-specific training (e.g., Calvo-Merino et al., 2005) or observational learning (e.g., Cross et al., 2013). Such knowledge of how SMT may alter brain activity within regions facilitating the action perception coupling is likely important for enhancing training techniques within sports, as well as for developing new rehabilitative techniques for many clinical populations.



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Interactive Metronome study: Clapping in time parallels literacy and calls upon overlapping neural mechanisms in early readers

Clapping in time parallels literacy and calls upon overlapping neural mechanisms in early readers

Annals of the New York Academy Of Science. Article link here.

Link to complete paper at IM site.

Silvia Bonacina Jennifer Krizman Travis White‐Schwoch Nina Krau

Abstract

The auditory system is extremely precise in processing the temporal information of perceptual events and using these cues to coordinate action. Synchronizing movement to a steady beat relies on this bidirectional connection between sensory and motor systems, and activates many of the auditory and cognitive processes used when reading. Here, we use Interactive Metronome, a clinical intervention technology requiring an individual to clap her hands in time with a steady beat, to investigate whether the links between literacy and synchronization skills, previously established in older children, are also evident in children who are learning to read. We tested 64 typically developing children (ages 5–7 years) on their synchronization abilities, neurophysiological responses to speech in noise, and literacy skills. We found that children who have lower variability in synchronizing have higher phase consistency, higher stability, and more accurate envelope encoding—all neurophysiological response components linked to language skills. Moreover, performing the same task with visual feedback reveals links with literacy skills, notably processing speed, phonological processing, word reading, spelling, morphology, and syntax. These results suggest that rhythm skills and literacy call on overlapping neural mechanisms, supporting the idea that rhythm training may boost literacy in part by engaging sensory‐motor systems.


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Interactive Metronome (IM) efficacy studies: Randomized treatment control studies

In case you missed the prior post, if you are interested in IM efficacy studies (that used a randomized treatment control study design), you can find this info at this prior link.

An oldie-but-goodie (OBG) post.

White matter matters! Brain network communication and synchronization - An oldie-but-goodie (OBG) post

White matter, in contrast to the grey squiggly mass (the cerebrum) that most people associate with the human brain, was for many years the research step-child to the cerebrum. That is no more. White matter, which has been called the brain's subway, super information system, or interstate highway communication system, now has a glass slipper. Research during the past decade has implicated white matter as performing the critical task of connecting and synchronizing different brain regions or networks so they can perform a wide variety of complex human cognitive or motor behaviors. The white matter system is considered the communication backbone system for the flow of information in the brain. Of particular interest (to me) is the parietal-frontal network, which is implicated as central to abstract human intelligence, fluid intelligence (Gf), working memory and attentional control (see prior posts re: the P-FIT model).

In a MindHub white paper I hypothesized that increasing white matter tract integrity may be a key mechanism behind the efficacy of the Interactive Metronome neuro-timing intervention (see figure below). I have gone as far as suggesting that the efficacy of many brain training/fitness programs may stem from a common domain-general effect--improving communication between and within various brain network(s) via more efficient white matter tract speed and communication. [Click on image to enlarge]

White matter integrity or dysfunction as been implicated in a wide variety of cognitive disorders or abilities, including cognitive control, math and intellectual giftedness, fluid intelligence or reasoning, processing speed, reading, decrease in cognitive functioning, meditation, working memory, vascular cognitive impairment, ADHD, autism, and cognitve and language maturation in infants. A sampling of recent white matter research article abstracts I have accumulated can be found by clicking here.
White matter matters!

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Your brain is a time machine: An oldie-but-goodie (OBG) post

This is an OBG (oldie-but-goodie) post I originally made on the IM-HOME blog

Time and space are the two fundamental dimensions of our lives. All forms of human behavior require us to process and understand information we receive from our environment in either spatial or temporal patterns. Even though mental timing (temporal processing) research is in a stage of infancy (when compared to spatial processing) important insights regarding the human brain clock have emerged.

Below is a list (albeit incomplete) of some of the major conclusions regarding the human brain clock. The sources for these statements come from my review of the temporal processing and brain clock literature during the past five years. Most of this information has been disseminated at the Brain Clock blog or the Brain Clock Evolving Web of Knowledge (EWOK). The goal of this post is to provide a Readers Digest summary of the major conclusions. This material can serve as a set of "talking points" at your next social event where you can impress your friends and family as you explain why you use the high-tech IM "clapper" (with a cowbell tone no less) either as a provider or as client.

Our brains measure time constantly. It's hard to find any complex human behavior where mental timing is not involved. Timing is required to walk, talk, perform complex movements and coordinate information flow across the brain for complex human thought. Think about moving your arm and hand to grasp a coffee cup. The messages to perform this task originate in your brain, which is not directly connected to your arm, hands and fingers. The ability to perform the necessary motor movements is possible only because the mind and extremities are connected via timing. Precisely timed neural messages connect your brain and extremities. You are a time machine.

Humans are remarkably proficient at internally perceiving and monitoring time to produce precisely timed behaviors and thinking. “We are aware of how long we have been doing a particular thing, how long it has been since we last slept, and how long it will be until lunch or dinner. We are ready, at any moment, to make complex movements requiring muscle coordination with microsecond accuracy, or to decode temporally complex auditory signals in the form of speech or music. Our timing abilities are impressive…” (Lewis & Walsh, 2005, p. 389).

To deal with time, humans have developed multiple timing systems that are active over more than 10 orders of magnitude with various degrees of precision (see figure below from Buhusi & Meck, 2005). These different timing systems can be classified into three general classes (viz., circadian, interval, and millisecond timing), each associated with different behaviors and brain structures and mechanisms. The fastest timing system (millisecond or interval timing) is involved in a numerous human behaviors such as speech and language, music perception and production, coordinated motor behaviors, attention, and thinking. This fast interval timing system is the most important timing system for understanding and diagnosing clinical disorders and for developing and evaluating effective treatment interventions for educational and rehabilitation settings. It is this timing system, and the relevant research, that is relevant to understanding Interactive Metronome. (Note.  See my conflict of interest statement at this blog.  I have an ongoing consulting relationship with IM).

Although there is consensus that the human brain contains some kind of clock, the jury is still out on the exact brain mechanisms and locations. It is also not clear whether there is one functional master clock or a series of clocks deployed in different brain areas. The areas of the brain most consistently associated with milli-second interval mental timing are the cerebellum, anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right parietal cortex, motor cortex, and the frontal-striatal loop. That is a mouthful of technical brain terms. But, if you can memorize them and have them roll of your tongue with ease you will “shock and awe” your family and friends. Most of these areas of the brain are illustrated below. Now, if you really want to demonstrate your expertise, get your own illustrated “brain-in-a-pocket”. These images were generated by the free 3D Brain app available for your iPhone or iPad. Even cooler is the fact that you can rotate the images with your finger! You can give neuroanatomy lessons anytime…anywhere!

Research suggests that mental interval timing is controlled by two sub-systems. The automatic timing system processes discrete-event (discontinuous) timing in milliseconds. The cognitively-controlled timing system deals with continuous-event timing (in seconds) that requires controlled attention and working memory. Both systems are likely involved in IM. For example, the synchronized clapping requires motor planning and execution, functions most associated with the automatic timing system. However, the cognitive aspects of IM (focus, controlled attention, executive functions) invoke the cognitively controlled timing system. Aren’t these brain images awesome?

The dominant model in the brain clock research literature is that of a centralized internal clock that functions as per the pacemaker–accumulator model. Briefly, this is a model where an oscillator beating at a fixed frequency generates tics that are detected by a counter. For now I am just going to tease you with an image of this model. You can read more about this model at the Brain Clock blog.

Research suggests that the brain mechanisms underlying mental timing can be fine-tuned (modified) via experience and environmental manipulation. Modifiability of mental interval timing and subsequent transfer suggest a domain-general timing mechanism that, if harnessed via appropriately designed timing-based interventions, may improve human performance in a number of important cognitive and motor domains.

Interactive Metronome (IM) is measuring and changing something real and important: An old-but-goodie (OBG) post

[This is an oldie-but-goodie (OGB) post that I originally posted as a guest blogger at the IM-HOME blog on Feb 2, 2012]

 

No human investigation can be called real science if it cannot be demonstrated mathematically

Leonardo da Vinci, Treatise on Painting (1651)

Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas, probably in that order Sydney Brenner (1980)

 

At the core of the IM intervention technology is a precise measurement system.  To users and clinicians the IM measurement system is transparent.  Yet, without the valid and precise measurement system, IM would not work.

In my “Brain or neural efficiency: Is it quickness or timing?” post, I advanced the hypothesis that the effectiveness of Interactive Metronome may be due to IM operating on a fundamental dimension of brain or neural efficiency, which intelligence scholars also relate to general intelligence (g).  I have also suggested that this mechanism improves control of attention and may allow individuals to “quiet a busy mind”and invoke “on-demand focus.”

As an applied intelligence test developer (click here), I have been intrigued by the underlying precise millisecond-based measurement system which is the heart of IM technology.  IM technology would not work if the underlying measurement system could not reliably measure differences in synchronized metronome tapping between individuals and changes within the same individual over repeated sessions. 

Wanting to know how precise the underlying IM measurement system is, I extracted the average millisecond scores from an unpublished 2003 Interactive Metronome document that reported average times for different age groups.  The sample consisted of the initial IM Long Form Assessment performance of 1,583 clinical and normal subjects ranging in age from 6 thru 60+.  It is important to note that the sample was not a nationally representative normal sample and was comprised of more clinical subjects receiving IM therapy.  Nevertheless, I wondered if this less-than-optimal set of data might demonstrate a pattern of increasingly shorter response times as individuals became older.  Why did I want to examine this?

Developmental increase in proficiency on tests and measures of human abilities is considered one form of evidence that a test or measurement system is reliably and validly measuring an important human ability.  In the case of intelligence, valid measures of cognitive abilities show developmental growth curves where the youngest subjects obtain the lowest raw scores and the average raw scores gradually increase with increasing age.  They eventually level out and then start a decline as old age sets in.  Below are growth curves from seven cognitive ability scores from the Woodcock-Johnson Battery—III, a test battery of which I am a co-author.  The important observation to note is that, despite the specific cognitive ability measure, all curves show low scores for the younger ages followed by acceleration of growth to a certain point.  Each curve then plateaus at a certain age range, after which age-related cognitive decline is noted, but at different rates for different abilities.  These curves are presented in the WJ III Technical Manual (McGrew & Woodcock, 1991) as a form of developmental validity evidence—which provides one piece of evidence that the WJ III tests are valid measures of different and important human intellectual abilities.

Scholars in intelligence have studied and postulated about the different rates of growth and decline for different abilities.  These are serious data about human intelligence and the measures used to capture differences in human abilities.  Within this context, I was ecstatic when I plotted the initial IM Long Form Assessment data (which is analogous to the first time a person is “tested” with the IM measurement system) and discovered the following plot.

 

The first thing the reader should note are the individual data points (the dots).  The points show some random “bouncing around” which we measurement folks call sampling error.  The critical point is that they follow a systematic trend that can be estimated by fitting a mathematical curve to the data points. This was the same procedure used to develop the WJ III cognitive curves in the first figure.  In the second figure, the IM timing curve is demarcated in red.  We who develop test norms and study human ability growth curves generate these smoothed growth curves as they are the best estimate of the real reality of the data if extremely large number of individuals had been tested at each age (there would be much less bounce).

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to interpret the smoothed IM growth curve.  Individuals at the youngest ages, on the average, show the largest millisecond discrepancy from the IM reference tone.  Then, with increasing age, the average IM target-to-response for individuals decreases systematically as children age.  At approximately 25 years of age the curve “bottoms out,” and then as individuals get older, IM millisecond timing scores increase (or get less accurate).  The systematic nature of this curve is amazing, considering it is based on a less-than-optimal sample for determining what constitutes average.

If the reader is having a hard time relating the IM timing curve to the WJ III cognitive ability curves, I have taken the liberty of simply rotating and flipping the IM timing accuracy growth curve in the figure below.  Vioila (aka, walla—“there it is”)!  The curve has the same general shape as the WJ III cognitive ability growth curves!  The reason for the difference between the WJ III growth curves and the first IM timing growth curve is that the meaning of high and low scores are reversed—higher IM times mean lower skilled performance while lower scores on the WJ III battery are associated with lower performance (and vice versa).

Readers who are parents may have seen similar growth curves during well-child visits with the family doctor.  Below are growth charts for weight and length for male children from birth to 36 years.  Although covering a much smaller age span than the WJ III cognitive and IM timing curves above, the shape of the curves is identical for the comparable age ranges (gradually increasing with age).  The middle dark line in each set (labeled 50 for 50^th percentile) is conceptually identical to the above single curve plots.  These physical measurement curves show the systematic and developmental nature of physical growth.

Why am I so excited about the IM timing growth curve?  Because it demonstrates, similar to the physical and intelligence growth curves, that the underlying measurement unit used as the core of IM therapy is measuring a human ability that follows a similar and expected developmental pattern.  Such curves are believed to be due, depending on the specific ability, to the influence of education and experiences as well as genetically-driven biological maturation of the central nervous system (CNS).  The IM timing curve is one form of evidence that the IM measurement system is measuring a fundamental human capacity.  This is extremely exciting!  It is one more piece of evidence that the IM core measurement technology is measuring and working on a core critical human ability. Coupled with other validity evidence previously discussed here and elsewhere, this additional piece of scientific evidence has convinced me that the IM measurement and intervention system is most likely measuring a fundamental aspect of the development of the central nervous system (e.g., neural efficiency).  The cognitive abilities I have suggested fall under the broad umbrella term of executive functions, and more specifically controlled attention (focus) and working memory.

A caveat before I close. The smoothed IM timing curve should not be used by IM providers to evaluate how typical, normal, or close-to-average a person is on their initial IM Long Form Assessment.  The mixed nature of the sample (normal and clinical subjects; more of the later) argues against such use.  Also, the curve only represents the average at each age and calculating and plotting the typical variability around the curve would also be necessary.  I deliberately left out the variability data curves so as not to encourage misuse of the information.

However, IM providers can evaluate their client’s performance by using the official IM Indicator Table.  A copy is reproduced below.  This table can be used to determine whether a client’s performance is in the “ballpark” for their age.  Providers simply locate the clients age in the row at the top then go down that column to find the millisecond score or range that includes their specific IM Long Form Assessment timing score.  The verbal description associated with each level (extremely deficient to exceptional) can be used to make quality of performance statements reflecting where an individual is at the time of the initial assessment.  The scores and labels should not be used for diagnostic purposes.  Instead, they can be used to describe, in approximate ball park terms, where an individual is at the time of the assessment when compared to others of the same age and to make comparisons about that same client’s performance over time.

Age	6	7 to 8	9 to 10	11 to 12	13 to 15	16+
Extreme Deficiency	280+	270+	260+	240+	215+	200+
Severe Deficiency	175-279	170-269	160-259	155-239	150-214	147-199
Below Average	120-174	90-169	80-159	75-154	72-149	70-146
Average	90-119	65-89	55-79	45-74	43-71	41-69
Above Average	56-89	45-64	38-54	36-44	33-42	30-40
Exceptional	40-55	32-44	28-37	26-35	23-32	22-29
Superior	Below 40	Below 32	Below 28	Below 26	Below 23	Below 22

In summary, I have traversed a number of empirical domains in my journey to understand IM.  The finding of such powerful and clear developmental evidence for the underlying IM measurement system is one of the final dots I connected which convinced me of the promise of IM.  The IM program is founded on a valid scientific measurement system of an important human cognitive ability (or constellation of related abilities).
 

NIH/NIA research grant awarded to study Interactive Metronome (IM) intervention with aging Native American Indians

I borrowed the announcement below from the Interactive Metronome IM-Home blog.  As many of my readers know, I am a paid external consultant to IM (see conflict of interest disclosure statement).  I have been interested in the IM technology for slightly more than 9 years.  As I blogged yesterday, there is considerable IM research literature available, including 7 "gold standard" randomized control design (RCD) efficacy studies.  Yesterday's posts provide links to key IM and mental timing resources.  I will provide updates regarding this grant project as I learn more.

 Announcement from Interactive Metronome

The National Institutes of Health through the National Institute on Aging has awarded a grant of $2,000,000 to study the effects of Interactive Metronome® (IM) therapy on aging American Indians. The three-year study, which will be conducted by the University of New Mexico and the University of Washington, aims to determine whether the IM intervention can improve cognitive and motor functioning among older American Indians.

American Indians (AIs) experience a disproportionately high incidence of cerebrovascular disease (CBVD) relative to non American Indians with twice the stroke rate of the general US population. Neuroimaging techniques have shown CBVD-related brain abnormalities to be associated with disruption of neuropsychological performance. Therapy for post-stroke cognitive impairment has been challenging. Cognitive therapy involves intense, focused, regular mental activity, intellectual stimulation, and behavioral exercises that assist individuals to regain or maintain cognitive function and reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline and dementia after brain injury. Interactive Metronome® therapy is a promising form of behavioral therapy for CBVD-related cognitive and motor function. This technology uses operant conditioning of an individual’s responses through simple, repetitive motor tasks (e.g., clapping hands, tapping feet) in sync with a set beat. Through visual and auditory feedback, IM addresses processing speed, attention, and immediate and delayed memory, all of which can be affected by CBVD. IM therapy can improve quality of life, physical mobility, gait, balance and CBVD-related cognitive deficits.

This study’s findings will provide important insights into the relationship among cognitive and motor rehabilitation, neuropsychological assessment, and brain abnormalities in the American Indian who suffers from CBVD. These results will reveal if IM is a viable treatment option for reducing post-stroke challenges in not only American Indians but the general aging population as well.

Interactive metronome (IM) efficacy: Randomized treatment-control group design studies

It has been slightly over nine years since I started the Brain Clock blog (see original post here).  My primary interest in exploring human brain timing stemmed from my role in an intervention study with Interactive Metronome neurotechnology.  This initial interest expanded well beyond the IM technology to a mission to understand human temporal processing, temporal g, brain-clock mechanisms, brain network synchronization, etc.

Today I want to refocus on the IM intervention.  Whenever I tell colleagues or other professionals of my interest (and relations with IM...see conflict of interest statement) in the synchronized metronome tapping technology, I am frequently met with skeptical "you have got to be kidding me" looks or questions.  I understand, as I too was initially a serious skeptic.

Since then I have posted all available IM research literature (and significant amounts of related brain clock literature) at this blog.  The most important IM-specific and general brain clock articles, studies, and other media are listed in the blogrolls on the right side bar of this blog page.  Today I want to focus only on those studies that are considered "gold standard" studies (as per appropriate experimental design methods) that demonstrate treatment or intervention effectiveness.

The gold standard experimental design for demonstrating the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment is to randomly assign subjects to two (or more) groups...one group a control group that receives no treatment and the other(s) that receive the treatment(s).  Efficacy for a treatment is found when the treatment group outperforms the control group on the final or post-test outcome variables.  This is a VERY simplified explanation of what is typically called a randomized control design (RCD) (see RCD info here and here).  RCD studies are those that should carry the most weight in evaluating a treatment's effectiveness claims.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading

There are now 7 different IM RCD studies that demonstrate positive IM treatment effects for ADHD, blast-related TBI neuropsychological functioning, academics (reading and math), and golf.  The studies are designated with an RCD code in the Interactive Metronome Research blog side bar.  The abstracts for each study are produced below (click on images to enlarge to read).

Based on these RCD studies (as well as other IM research studies), I produced a white paper that presented explanatory hypotheses for the "why" of the IM-effect--why does it produce positive outcomes across multiple human ability domains, especially cognitively controlled domains (reading, math, neuropschological functioning, attentional control, etc.)?  This MindHub Pub # 2 (The Science Behind Interactive Metronome) can be found here.

I encourage those who are interested in learning more to read the MindHub Pub manuscript and the RCD IM-specific studies (can be downloaded from the relevant Brain Clock IM Research side bar).  Additional information (PPT slide shows; videos; publications) and be found at two places at the MindHub web portal (here and here).  Enjoy

Click on images to enlarge to read