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Stability of Motor Programs During a State of Meditation: Electrocortical Activity in a Pianist Playing ‘Vexations’ by Erik Satie Continuously for 28 Hours

Institute of Music Physiology and Music Medicine, Hanover University of Music and Drama and Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Hanover, c.kohlmetz{at}gmx.net

Reinhard Kopiez

Institute for Research in Music Education, Hanover University of Music and Drama, kopiez{at}hmt-hannover.de

Eckart Altenmüller

Institute of Music Physiology and Music Medicine, Hanover University of Music and Drama, altenmueller{at}hmt-hannover.de

Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings of an expert pianist playing Erik Satie’s ‘Vexations’ for a continuous period of 28 hours were used to explore the changes in electrocortical activity during a state of trance and the subsequent influence on executive motor function. According to the event protocol, the pianist experienced different states of consciousness throughout the performance ranging from alertness to trance and drowsiness. We then compared the stability of motor performance for those three states by measuring the length of one played sequence as well as the power of the spectrum of the pianist’s cerebral activity recorded over posterior regions of the brain. The results revealed no significant difference between the mean duration of a played sequence in the alert as compared to the trance state. A Fast Fourier Transformation of cerebral activity showed a significant increase in power of the alpha 1 spectrum (8.0-10.0 Hz) for the trance state of mind only. This effect occurred more markedly over the left hemisphere and is often referred to as equivalent to a meditative state of consciousness. In summary, one main finding was that in trance the performance of a demanding sensorimotor integration task remained constant. Hence, these results demonstrate the high degree of stability of executive function, even in changing levels of consciousness in expert pianists.

Key Words: consciousness • electrocortical activity • expert pianist • meditation • music and trance • stability of motor performance

Psychology of Music, Vol. 31, No. 2, 173-186 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735603031002293


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