Tap Harder: Cognitive Inhibition and Induced Emotions Predict Tapping Force in Young and Older Adults.

Research on sensorimotor synchronization typically examines finger tapping to auditory rhythms. These studies generally investigate timing accuracy, largely neglecting the force of tapping, which provides information on exertion and thus is relevant to clinical applications of cued movement. In two experiments with healthy young and older adults, we examined the possible influence of i) cognitive function, ii) subjective factors, and iii) properties of music on the force of music-cued finger tapping, alongside possible aging effects. We found that better cognitive switching/inhibition ability inversely predicted tapping force, whereas more positively rated emotions induced by the music predicted greater tapping force. Despite known declines of motor and cognitive functions in aging, we found that age group was not a predictive factor of force, suggesting that age does not affect spontaneous force in finger tapping. We examined other relevant factors based on previous findings, including working memory, familiarity with the music, and whether the music was activating, but these also did not predict applied force. These findings demonstrate differential effects of cognitive differences and auditory cue aspects on motor control in finger tapping settings, with practical implications for improving training or rehabilitation that includes music-based movement.