The tapping rate is a psychological test given to assess the integrity of the neuromuscular system and examine motor control

Motor control

Motor control are information processing related activities carried out by the central nervous system that organize the musculoskeletal system to create coordinated movements and skilled actions...

. 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

Biomechanical

Biomechanical may refer to:*Biomechanics, the application of mechanical principles to living organisms*Biomechanics , system of actor training developed by Vsevolod Meyerhold*Biomechanical Art, the style of H. R...

 influences on movement are reduced. Finger tapping involves three important features: time, spatial amplitude, and frequency. 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

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...

 and healthy controls

Scientific control

Scientific control allows for comparisons of concepts. It is a part of the scientific method. Scientific control is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then...

, is slower in people one month after sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury, and in experienced boxers and soccer players who frequently "headed" the ball. The speed of finger tapping has also been found to be related to severity of initial traumatic brain injury, and can be used to help assess recovery from mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries.