The tapping rate is a psychological test given to assess the integrity of the neuromuscular system and examine motor control. The finger tapping test has the advantage of being a relatively pure neurologically driven motor task because the inertial and intersegmental interactions are so small that biomechanical influences on movement are reduced.[1] Finger tapping involves three important features: time, spatial amplitude, and frequency.[2] Studies have reported that the average number of taps per 10-second interval can be used to distinguish between patients with mild traumatic brain injury and healthy controls.[3][4][5][6] The tapping rate is slower in people one month after sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury[4] and in experienced boxers and soccer players who frequently "headed" the ball.[7] The speed of finger tapping has also been found to be related to severity of initial traumatic brain injury,[8] and can be used to help assess recovery from mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries.[4]
^Geldmacher DS, Hills EC (1997). "Effect of stimulus number, target-to-distractor ratio, and motor speed on visual spatial search quality following traumatic brain injury". Brain Injury. 11 (1): 59–66. doi:10.1080/026990597123818. PMID9012552.
^ abcHaaland KY, Temkin N, Randahl G, Dikmen S (1994). "Recovery of simple motor skills after head injury". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 16 (3): 448–456. doi:10.1080/01688639408402655. PMID7929712.
^Hills EC, Geldmacher DS (1998). "The effect of character and array type on visual spatial search acuity following traumatic brain injury". Brain Injury. 12: 69–76. doi:10.1080/026990598122872. PMID9483339.
^Prigatano GP, Borgaro SR (2003). "Qualitative features of finger movement during the Halstead finger oscillation test following traumatic brain injury". Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 9 (6): 128–133. doi:10.1017/s1355617703000134. PMID12570365. S2CID232345145.
^Dikmen SS, Machamer JE, Winn HR, Temkin NR (1995). "Neuropsychological outcome at 1-year post head injury". Neuropsychology. 9: 80–90. doi:10.1037/0894-4105.9.1.80.
