Cymis, a new electronic music instrument promotes voluntary finger movement in a 58 year old female with cerebral palsy

چکیده

A woman with severe cerebral palsy had never shown visible voluntary finger movements until age 58 years. Individual intervention was initiated using Cymis, a new electronic musical instrument developed by the authors. After several months, she was able to move her third finger on her left hand and play at a relatively steady tempo using a balloon switch; each time the switch is turned on, one beat of the song is played after another. She was unable to voluntarily move her other fingers. Her finger movement was assessed by analyzing still images from a video recording of her performance. She eventually moved her left third finger by ~40 mm. Using the Cymis, her tempo became more stable at ~40 bpm. This change was investigated using inter-onset-intervals (IOIs), where IOI was the time interval when the switch was turned on. The IOIs indicated her ability to control finger movement via contractions of the flexor and extensor muscles. She successfully learned to play several pieces over time. The study highlighted significant enhancement of the plasticity of the woman’s motor system and muscle strength at age 58 years.