Keeping the Beat
MCG Health System therapists are using a computer-based interactive metronome to treat adults and children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and other cognitive, physical and learning disorders. Patients use headphones to listen to auditory tones that mimic a metronome’s steady timing and rhythm. They then perform a series of exercises where they clap or tap in time to the tones while wearing special gloves or standing on a floor that records their responses. Guide tones alert the patient if their response is on time, early or late.
Learning to keep time with the beat has been found to profoundly affect attention, coordination, self-control, motor control and even reading, math and language processing.
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