Introduction
Lifespan Psychology scrutinises timing of fine motor movements; rhythmic control and tapping asynchrony are more variable with age-related changes to executive functions. It is assumed that certain skills may not show age-related decline because of domain-specific practice. For example, despite ageing musicians should retain finger-tapping speed, reaction time, and hand-symmetry (i.e., lack of right-hand superiority among right-hand dominant musicians).


Purpose
The current study compared between Younger Players versus Seasoned Musician.


Methods
N = 38 professional Symphony players from 5 orchestras in 3 countries participated. There were 23 String players, 12 Wind (Woodwinds and Brass) players, 2 Harp players, and 1 Xylophone player. They were roughly 49 years old (SD = 9.87, Range 27-64), with 23 (61%) males. Each player completed 5, 30-second, isochronous finger-tapping tasks: self-paced tapping at spontaneous and preferred rates, speeded uni-manual single-finger tapping (right and left hand), and bi-manual alternate-hand finger-tapping. To tease out differences between younger versus seasoned musicians, 2 subgroups were compared: LTE45 (n = 13, MAge = 37, SD = 6.39, Range 27-44) versus GTE55 (n = 14, MAge = 58, SD = 2.83, Range 55-64).


Results
Seasoned musicians performed all finger-tapping tasks just as fast as younger players, and they were just as consistent. Spontaneous tempos were moderate (83bpm) pace, while preferred tempos were slightly faster (88bpm); no significant differences surfaced between subgroups. Uni-manual forced-speeded finger-tapping for both hands were between 326bpm-347bpm, consisting of 157-177 extremely controlled stable taps (i.e., SDs of ITIs). Bi-manual alternating-hand forced-speeded finger-tapping was between 450bpm-500bpm; these were significantly more variable than uni-manual tapping. Music-instrument training-induced symmetry was found for all players.


Conclusions
Comparative studies with normal older adults indicate a systematic age-related decline in cognitive mechanisms including tapping rates. This is not the case for seasoned musicians beyond the 5th decade.