What is Interactive Metronome®?
Interactive Metronome® (IM) is an evidence based training tool that tests thinking and movement simultaneously, and trains a person’s timing and rhythm in order to improve performance.
Precise timing is responsible for a stellar athletic performance, it can even be the key to a funny punch line or a band’s harmonised music.
Timing is responsible for a person being able to walk without falling or speaking without stuttering.
When your timing and sequencing of work is coordinated, you’re able to stay focused in class or on a task, remember the names of the people you just met, run without tripping, and read a book easily.
One of the most critical factors in human performance is the ability to have accurate brain timing. IM is therefore used to match up processes like seeing and hearing with the required physical movement.
It is not sufficient to have a motor skill; you also have to have timing, and multiple areas of the brain are involved to get this right.
A good example of synchronization is the ability to look and listen simultaneously.
The cortex is receiving information from both the eyes and hearing at exactly the same time, thus allowing it to be analysed in the most efficient possible way.
When one is out of sync, it can be described as watching a badly dubbed movie; the lips move but the sound info is delayed.
Often a child will decide to forfeit one sensory system for the other when paying attention.
IM really helps us to understand this, providing a finer-tuned place in the brain to work on body coordination and timing.
Many of these studies have implicated poor timing & rhythm in individuals with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorder, Aphasia, Parkinson’s, Schizophrenia, and other neurological conditions.
When synchronization improves, neural efficiency improves because the brain’s processing speed is improved (such as for multi-tasking).
Amazing!