Tapping rate

The tapping rate is a psychological test given to assess the integrity of the neuromuscular system and examine motor control. The finger tapping test has the advantage of being a relatively pure neurologically driven motor task because the inertial and intersegmental interactions are so small that biomechanical influences on movement are reduced.[1] Finger tapping involves three important features: time, spatial amplitude, and frequency.[2] Studies have reported that the average number of taps per 10-second interval can be used to distinguish between patients with mild traumatic brain injury and healthy controls,[3][4][5][6] is slower in people one month after sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury,[4] and in experienced boxers and soccer players who frequently "headed" the ball.[7] The speed of finger tapping has also been found to be related to severity of initial traumatic brain injury,[8] and can be used to help assess recovery from mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries.[4]

  1. ^ Collyer CE, Broadbent HA, Church RM. (1994). "Preferred rates of repetitive tapping and categorical time production". Perception & Psychophysics 55 (4): 443–453. PMID 8036123. 
  2. ^ Liu W, Forrester L, Whitall J. (2006). "A note on time-frequency analysis of finger tapping". Journal of Motor Behavior 38 (1): 18–28. doi:10.3200/JMBR.38.1.18-28. PMC 2670435. PMID 16436360. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2670435. 
  3. ^ Geldmacher DS, Hills EC. (1997). "Effect of stimulus number, target-to-distractor ratio, and motor speed on visual spatial search quality following traumatic brain injury". Brain Injury 11 (1): 59–66. 
  4. ^ a b c Haaland, KY, Temkin N, Randahl G., Dikmen S. (1994). "Recovery of simple motor skills after head injury". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 16: 448–456. 
  5. ^ Hills EC, Geldmacher DS. (1998). "The effect of character and array type on visual spatial search acuity following traumatic brain injury". Brain Injury 12: 69–76. 
  6. ^ Prigatano GP, Borgaro SR. (2003). "Qualitative features of finger movement during the Halstead finger oscillation test following traumatic brain injury". Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 9: 128–133. 
  7. ^ Murelius O, Haglund Y. (1991). "Does Swedish amateur boxing lead to chronic brain damage? A retrospective neuropsychological study". Acta Neurologica Scandinavica 83: 9–13. 
  8. ^ Dikmen SS, Machamer JE, Winn HR, Temkin NR. (1995). "Neuropsychological outcome at 1-year post head injury". Neuropsychology 9: 80–90.