J Mov Disord.  2025 Oct;18(4):355-359. 10.14802/jmd.25064.

The Role of Handedness and Extrainstrumental Burdens on the Course of Musicians’ Dystonia

• Doll-Lee J
• Passarotto E
• Altenmüller E
• Lee A

• KMID: 2573362
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14802/jmd.25064

Abstract

Objective
This study investigated the impact of extrainstrumental workload on musician’s dystonia (MD) and its relationship with playing ability by testing whether dystonia onset is more severe in the dominant hand and whether improvement during treatment depends on which hand is affected, the dominant or nondominant.
Methods
A total of 151 patients with dominant-hand MD and 92 with nondominant hand MD were assessed for their ability to play at dystonia onset (T0) and after treatment (T1).
Results
There was no significant difference in playing ability at onset between the groups. Significant improvement and a greater change in playing ability were observed in the dominant-hand group. We found no difference in the proportional frequency of right-handed and left-handed individuals in the group of patients affected on the right or left side, respectively.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that handedness does not influence MD localization, but the prognosis is more favorable for those with dominant hand dystonia, potentially due to metaplasticity effects.

Keyword

Musician’s dystonia; Task specific dystonia; Handedness