'Losing one's chops': clues to the mystery of embouchure dystonia.

摘要

From an early age, musicians spend their lives practicing and perfecting the complex repertoire of fine motor movements needed for instrumental mastery. Watching a great pianist or violinist in concert, one can only marvel at their digital dexterity and fine motor control. Equally impressive but hidden from the audience's view, musicians who play brass instruments (trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba) or woodwind instruments (flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, saxophone) exert equally subtle control over their embouchure. This term, derived from the French, refers to the muscles of the face, lips, tongue, and jaw that act in symphony to control the direction and force of air flow into an instrument's mouthpiece. Brass and woodwind performers must develop their endurance and train these muscles over years, a process known as "building one's chops." The syndrome of "losing one's chops," where performers lose their ability to play without associated pain or sensory symptoms, has only recently been recognized as a form of focal task-specific dystonia.