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] The tapping rate 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]

References

  1. ^ Collyer CE, Broadbent HA, Church RM (1994). "Preferred rates of repetitive tapping and categorical time production". Perception & Psychophysics. 55 (4): 443–453. doi:10.3758/bf03205301. 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.
  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. doi:10.1080/026990597123818. PMID 9012552.
  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 (3): 448–456. doi:10.1080/01688639408402655. PMID 7929712.
  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. doi:10.1080/026990598122872. PMID 9483339.
  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 (6): 128–133. doi:10.1017/s1355617703000134. PMID 12570365. S2CID 232345145.
  7. ^ Murelius O, Haglund Y (1991). "Does Swedish amateur boxing lead to chronic brain damage? A retrospective neuropsychological study". Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. 83 (1): 9–13. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1991.tb03952.x. PMID 2011947. S2CID 31685414.
  8. ^ Dikmen SS, Machamer JE, Winn HR, Temkin NR (1995). "Neuropsychological outcome at 1-year post head injury". Neuropsychology. 9: 80–90. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.9.1.80.
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