Rhythmic minds and dexterous fingers: Generalized Additive Models of Cognitive and Motor Predictors in Finger-Tapping

This within-subjects repeated measures study investigates the effect of cognitive factors (cognitive control, fine motor skills, and cognitive inhibition) and motor abilities on finger-tapping performance, addressing gaps in research regarding their unique contributions to tapping force and timing consistency in healthy adults. Hypotheses posited that greater cognitive control ability would relate to more consistent timing of tapping, greater cognitive inhibition would relate to a reduced tapping force, and better fine motor skills would correlate with improved tapping consistency. Forty-three healthy adults (M = 22.47, SD = 4.21; 77% female) completed a finger-tapping task, where timing consistency and force were measured. generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to assess non-linear relationships between these variables and tapping performance. Results indicated that cognitive control (p = .06), attention (p = .19), and inhibition (p = .70) did not significantly predict...Show moreThis within-subjects repeated measures study investigates the effect of cognitive factors (cognitive control, fine motor skills, and cognitive inhibition) and motor abilities on finger-tapping performance, addressing gaps in research regarding their unique contributions to tapping force and timing consistency in healthy adults. Hypotheses posited that greater cognitive control ability would relate to more consistent timing of tapping, greater cognitive inhibition would relate to a reduced tapping force, and better fine motor skills would correlate with improved tapping consistency. Forty-three healthy adults (M = 22.47, SD = 4.21; 77% female) completed a finger-tapping task, where timing consistency and force were measured. generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to assess non-linear relationships between these variables and tapping performance. Results indicated that cognitive control (p = .06), attention (p = .19), and inhibition (p = .70) did not significantly predict tapping consistency, accounting for only 5.7% of its variance (adjusted R² = .057). Additionally, cognitive factors significantly predicted tapping force (all p < .001), explaining 55.3% of the variance (adjusted R² = .553). Lastly, both fine and gross motor skills significantly predicted tapping consistency (both p < .005), explaining 24.8% of the variance (adjusted R² = .248). The current study adds to the understanding of mechanisms underlying sensorimotor synchronization and broadens research by extending motor timing findings to force, a previously underexplored aspect essential for understanding motor regulation. Results highlight the importance of fine and gross motor skills in maintaining consistent finger-tapping timing, while cognitive control and inhibition are more relevant for force modulation. Future research should further explore these relationships, addressing limitations such as overfitting of the model and autocorrelation, which may affect the reliability and generalizability of the findings. Integrating these findings into practice could enhance personalized therapeutic approaches by using cognitive control, inhibition and fine motor skills as predictors of motor ability. This could potentially improve rehabilitation care for patients with motor impairments by incorporating their strengths and weaknesses into personalized therapies. However, further studies in clinical settings are needed to explore these potential practical applications.Show less

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Rhythmic minds and dexterous fingers: Generalized Additive Models of Cognitive and Motor Predictors in Finger-Tapping