Active lead-in variability affects motor memory formation and slows motor learning

Ian S. Howard*, Christopher Ford, Angelo Cangelosi, David W. Franklin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Rapid learning can be critical to ensure elite performance in a changing world or to recover basic movement after neural injuries. Recently it was shown that the variability of follow-through movements afects the rate of motor memory formation. Here we investigate if lead-in movement has a similar efect on learning rate. We hypothesized that both modality and variability of lead-in movement would play critical roles, with simulations suggesting that only changes in active lead-in variability would exhibit slower learning. We tested this experimentally using a two-movement paradigm, with either visual or active initial lead-in movements preceeding a second movement performed in a force feld. As predicted, increasing active lead-in variability reduced the rate of motor adaptation, whereas changes in visual lead-in variability had little efect. This demonstrates that distinct neural tuning activity is induced by diferent lead-in modalities, subsequently infuencing the access to, and switching between, distinct motor memories.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages0
JournalScientific Reports
Volume0
Issue number0
Early online date10 Aug 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Aug 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Active lead-in variability affects motor memory formation and slows motor learning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this