MOVE

Symmetry through synchrony

For most of us playing the piano forms a major hurdle as moving our hands and fingers accurately and independently is easier said than done. Does this difficulty stem from a cross-talk by which activity from one side spills over to the other side of the body? In contrast to current beliefs I will discuss the option that bimanual activity is the primary vehicle of control for all limb movements, unilateral and bilateral. This hypothesis derives from the notion that the structural symmetry of the central nervous system yields cross-talk, in particular when the movement-related neural activity becomes synchronized. Unimanual performance is thus achieved via an active suppression of the contralateral limb, that is, through inhibition of corresponding motor areas.