A New Approach to Studying Rhythm Cueing of Cognitive Functions: The Case of Ideomotor-Apraxia

Background: Several studies showed the positive effects of rhythm cueing on motor control in neurological disorders (hemiparesis, Parkinson disease). Yet, no studies were carried out on patients suffering from impaired programming of complex actions. Ideomotor apraxia is an ideal experimental paradigm to test the effect of rhythm on the reorganization of higher motor control after brain damage, since the impairment does not affect low-level motor control. Methods: A patient suffering from ideomotor apraxia has been tested before and after two rehabilitation training sets that only differed for the presence/absence of rhythmic cueing. Training was focused on the acquisition of novel complex motor sequences, and consisted in demonstrations and reproductions of target sequences by trials and errors. The ability to perform complex motor sequences was tested by considering the accuracy of limb-positions and trajectories along the path. Results: Both trainings increased the patient’s proficiency, but rhythmic cueing was significantly more effective, during the training (Chi2: p = .019) as well as during the post training uncued condition (t-test: p = .031). Discussion: Results are in line with neurophysiological data showing the effect of music on cognitive functions (Peterson & Thaut, 2007), and are discussed in the context of motor-control cognitive models.