Robustness and adaptability of sensorimotor skills in expert piano performance

Skillful execution of sequential actions requires the delicate balance of sensorimotor control, encompassing both robustness and adaptability. Previous studies have characterized behavioral and electrophysiological responses to sensory perturbation during performance of sequential movements such as speech and singing. However, it remains unknown whether and in what manner both motor and neural responses, triggered by sensory perturbation, undergo plastic adaptation as a consequence of extensive sensorimotor experience. Here, we addressed this question by comparing effects of transiently delayed tone production on the spatiotemporal patterns of the subsequent motor actions and event-related potentials (ERPs) during fast and accurate piano performance between expert pianists and musically-untrained individuals (non-musicians). Following the delayed tone production, the inter-keystroke interval was abnormally prolonged in non-musicians but not in pianists. By contrast, the keystroke velocity following the tone delay was increased only in the pianists. A regression model further demonstrated that the change in the inter-keystroke interval following the perturbation covaried with the ERPs of the N180 and P300 components particularly at the frontal and parietal regions. In contrast, the alteration in the keystroke velocity was associated with the P300 component of the temporal region ipsilateral to the moving hand, which suggests enhancement of auditory but not somatosensory feedback gain following auditory perturbation. Together, these findings suggest that distinct neural mechanisms underlie robust and adaptive sensorimotor skills individuals with different levels of proficiency.