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Results for “Motor learning”

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At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

PubMed2006

rTMS combined with motor learning training in healthy subjects.

PURPOSE: This study explored the effects of motor learning training combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on motor performance in healthy subjects. METHODS: Twenty-seven right-handed subjects were randomized to three groups: ipsilateral rTMS (IS group), contralateral rTMS (CS group), and sham rTMS (SS group). rTMS was applied for 10 minutes (1 Hz, 90% motor threshold) prior to training. Training involved 10 minutes of finger tracking with the right hand. Tracking performance was tested before, during and after training. RESULTS: Improvement in tracking performance over the posttests was not significantly different between the CS and SS groups, whereas it was significantly lower for the IS group compared to the SS group. No difference was found across groups at retention tests. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that rTMS interfered with motor performance transiently when applied ipsilateral to the training hand and had no effect when applied contralaterally. These results invite further work to determine whether the disruptive effect of ipsilateral rTMS observed here in healthy subjects, with presumably balanced interhemispheric inhibition, might translate differently to subjects with abnormal interhemispheric inhibition (stroke patients) in a way that disinhibits the ipsilesional hemisphere and improves performance in the paretic hand.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Effects of aging on cerebellar noradrenergic function and motor learning: nutritional interventions.

Aging is associated with a decline in motor coordination and the ability to learn new motor learning skills. This loss of function is correlated with a decline in cerebellar beta-adrenergic receptor function. We have examined the role of oxidative stress on this system by exposing young rats to normobaric hyperoxia. This exogenous oxidative insult results in a decline in cerebellar beta-adrenergic receptor function that resembles what is observed in normal aged rats. This effect of hyperoxia is blocked by antioxidants. We have also examined the effects of nutritional supplementation of aged rats with diets high in antioxidant capacity. Foods such as blueberries and spinach can prevent and/or reverse age-related declines in cerebellar noradrenergic receptor function.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2001

Deficient long-term synaptic depression in the rostral cerebellum correlated with impaired motor learning in phospholipase C beta4 mutant mice.

Long-term depression (LTD) at parallel fibre-Purkinje cell synapse of the cerebellum is thought to be a cellular substrate for motor learning. LTD requires activation of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 1 (mGluR1) and its downstream signalling pathways, which invariably involves phospholipase Cbetas (PLCbetas). PLCbetas consist of four isoforms (PLCbeta1-4) among which PLCbeta4 is the major isoform in most Purkinje cells in the rostral cerebellum (lobule 1 to the rostral half of lobule 6). We studied mutant mice deficient in PLCbeta4, and found that LTD was deficient in the rostral but not in the caudal cerebellum of the mutant. Basic properties of parallel fibre-Purkinje cell synapses and voltage-gated Ca2+ channel currents appeared normal. The mGluR1-mediated Ca2+ release induced by repetitive parallel fibre stimulation was absent in the rostral cerebellum of the mutant, suggesting that their LTD lesion was due to the defect in the mGluR1-mediated signalling in Purkinje cells. Importantly, the eyeblink conditioning, a simple form of discrete motor learning, was severely impaired in PLCbeta4 mutant mice. Wild-type mice developed the conditioned eyeblink response, when pairs of the conditioned stimulus (tone) and the unconditioned stimulus (periorbital shock) were repeatedly applied. In contrast, PLCbeta4 mutant mice could not learn the association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, although their behavioural responses to the tone or to the periorbital shock appeared normal. These results strongly suggest that PLCbeta4 is essential for LTD in the rostral cerebellum, which may be required for the acuisition of the conditioned eyeblink response.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Facilitation of visuo-motor learning by transcranial direct current stimulation of the motor and extrastriate visual areas in humans.

Performance of visuo-motor tasks requires the transfer of visual data to motor performance and depends highly on visual perception and cognitive processing, mainly during the learning phase. The primary aim of this study was to determine if the human middle temporal (MT)+/V5, an extrastriate visual area that is known to mediate motion processing, and the primary motor cortex are involved in learning of visuo-motor coordination tasks. To pursue this, we increased or decreased MT+/V5, primary contralateral motor (M1) and primary visual cortex excitability by 10 min of anodal or cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation in healthy human subjects during the learning phase of a visually guided tracking task. The percentage of correct tracking movements increased significantly in the early learning phase during anodal stimulation, but only when the left V5 or M1 was stimulated. Cathodal stimulation had no significant effect. Also, stimulation of the primary visual cortex was not effective for this kind of task. Our data suggest that the areas V5 and M1 are involved in the early phase of learning of visuo-motor coordination.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Drosophila mushroom bodies are dispensable for visual, tactile, and motor learning.

A total of 18 associative learning/memory tests have been applied to Drosophila melanogaster flies lacking mushroom bodies. Only in paradigms involving chemosensory cues as conditioned stimuli have flies been found to be compromised by a block in the mushroom body pathway. Among the learning tasks not requiring these structures are a case of motor learning (yaw torque/heat), a test of the fly's spatial orientation in total darkness, conditioned courtship suppression by mated females, and nine different examples of visual learning. The latter used the reinforcers of heat, visual oscillations, mechanical shaking, or sucrose, and as conditioned stimuli, color, intensity contrast, as well as stationary and moving visual patterns. No forms of consolidated memory have been tested in mushroom body-less flies. With respect to short-term memory the mushroom bodies of Drosophila are specially required for chemosensory learning tasks, but not for associative learning and memory in general.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Error correction strategies for motor behavior after unilateral brain damage: short-term motor learning processes.

In order to identify the mechanisms underlying motor impairments and motor learning following stroke-related brain damage, we analyzed correction strategies used by hemiparetic individuals to produce precise elbow flexion movements of the paretic arm and compared them to those of healthy individuals. Participants made rapid elbow flexion movements to a 6 degrees wide target and were instructed to correct movement errors as quickly as possible when a spring-like load was unexpectedly introduced. Angular positions and torques before correction were used to identify error patterns. Results showed that participants with mild hemiparesis minimized movement errors within three trials, as did healthy participants. In contrast, severely affected individuals needed more trials to diminish errors and their movements were inconsistent. Participants with a moderate motor disability used both typical and atypical correction strategies. The differences in correction behaviors likely reflect deficits in arm motor function (r=0.79) and executive function (r=0.58) rather than levels of intellectual function (IQ ratings). Results indicate that the deficits that individuals with stroke experience when adapting their movements to changed load conditions may be due to difficulty in rapidly integrating visual and proprioceptive information. Deficits in executive function could also contribute to problems in producing accurate and consistent movements from trial to trial. Taken together, these results imply that all hemiparetic individuals would not benefit equally from the same motor re-training approaches.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Effects of the model's skill level on observational motor learning.

Observation of a model prior to physical practice often facilitates the acquisition of motor skills. The majority of research studies on observational motor learning has used a skilled model for the demonstration. Recent research, however, suggests that observing an unskilled (learning) model may also be effective. The experiment reported here compared motor skill acquisition following observation of a learning model or a skilled model to the performance of subjects who lacked the benefit of observation. The task was to play a computer tracking game. Subjects were tested in pairs. Observers watched either a skilled or a learning model perform 3 trials. The observers then practiced the game for 3 trials. Observation of another 12 trials was followed by 12 more practice trials. Substantial observational learning was found, as both groups of observers performed better than the learning models after both the 3 initial trials of observation and after 12 more observation trials. However, there were no differences due to observing the skilled or the learning model. These findings are discussed in relation to theoretical issues of observational learning.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2001

Impairment in motor learning of somatostatin null mutant mice.

Somatostatin was first identified as a hypothalamic factor which inhibits the release of growth hormone from the anterior pituitary (somatotropin release inhibitory factor, SRIF). Both SRIF and its receptors were subsequently found widely distributed within and outside the nervous system, in the adult as well as in the developing organism. Reflecting this wide distribution, somatostatin has been implicated regulating a diverse array of biological processes. These include body growth, homeostasis, sensory perception, autonomous functions, rate of intestinal absorption, behavior, including cognition and memory, and developmental processes. We produced null mutant mice lacking somatostatin through targeted mutagenesis. The mutant mice are healthy, fertile, and superficially indistinguishable from their heterozygous and wildtype littermates. A 'first round' phenotype screen revealed that mice lacking somatostatin have elevated plasma growth hormone levels, despite normal body size, and have elevated basal plasma corticosterone levels. In order to uncover subtle and unexpected differences, we carried out a systematic behavioral phenotype screen which identified a significant impairment in motor learning revealed when increased demands were made on motor coordination. Motor coordination and motor learning require an intact cerebellum. While somatostatin is virtually absent from the adult cerebellum, the ligand and its receptor(s) are transiently expressed at high levels in the developing cerebellum. This result suggests the functional significance of transient expression of SRIF and its receptors in the development of the cerebellum.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Challenge point: a framework for conceptualizing the effects of various practice conditions in motor learning.

The authors describe the effects of practice conditions in motor learning (e.g., contextual interference, knowledge of results) within the constraints of 2 experimental variables: skill level and task difficulty. They use a research framework to conceptualize the interaction of those variables on the basis of concepts from information theory and information processing. The fundamental idea is that motor tasks represent different challenges for performers of different abilities. The authors propose that learning is related to the information arising from performance, which should be optimized along functions relating the difficulty of the task to the skill level of the performer. Specific testable hypotheses arising from the framework are also described.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗

PubMed1992

Vestibular inputs to brain stem neurons that participate in motor learning in the primate vestibuloocular reflex.

1. Previous studies have described a subpopulation of interneurons in the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) pathways that express large changes in their responses to head turns in conjunction with motor learning in the VOR. These neurons are called flocculus target neurons (FTNs) because they are inhibited at monosynaptic latencies by stimulation of the flocculus and ventral paraflocculus. 2. Electrical stimulation of the vestibular labyrinth revealed that FTNs receive excitatory monosynaptic inputs from the ipsilateral vestibular labyrinth and longer-latency, excitatory inputs from the contralateral labyrinth. 3. Our data show that commissural inhibition, which has been thought to be an important feature of vestibular processing, does not provide the dominant inputs from the contralateral labyrinth to FTNs. Instead, the inputs from both labyrinths are excitatory and may be functionally antagonistic. Changes in the balance of excitatory inputs from the two horizontal canals to FTNs could contribute to motor learning in the VOR.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Quantifying song bout production during zebra finch sensory-motor learning suggests a sensitive period for vocal practice.

Using an event-triggered recording system, the quantity of daily song bout production was measured weekly in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) during sensory-motor learning and at one year of age. Our aim was to ask whether the development of a stereotyped vocal pattern involves a practice-driven component. If so, we hypothesized that juvenile males learning song should sing more often than adults reciting a vocal pattern they had already learned, and that greater levels of juvenile singing should be associated with improvement in the quality of the adult song. Across the period measured (36-365 days of age), subjects showed an inverted U-shaped pattern of daily song bout production. Song bout production was lowest during subsong, with increased production associated with plastic song and song crystallization, although individual differences were large. Daily song bout production decreased in adulthood. Higher levels of song bout production during plastic song correlated with fewer sequencing errors in adult song patterns (r(2)=0.77). In contrast, quantity of singing during song crystallization showed no relationship to vocal stereotypy (r(2)=0.002). Our data suggest a sensitive period for vocal practice during zebra finch sensory-motor learning with consequences for the note-sequence fidelity of the adult vocal pattern.

Aging↗

PubMed2001

Time scales in motor learning and development.

A theoretical framework based on the concepts and tools of nonlinear dynamical systems is advanced to account for both the persistent and transitory changes traditionally shown for the learning and development of motor skills. The multiple time scales of change in task outcome over time are interpreted as originating from the system's trajectory on an evolving attractor landscape. Different bifurcations between attractor organizations and transient phenomena can lead to exponential, power law, or S-shaped learning curves. This unified dynamical account of the functions and time scales in motor learning and development offers several new hypotheses for future research on the nature of change in learning theory.

Cognition↗

PubMed1990

Motor learning in patients with cerebellar dysfunction.

This study examined whether cerebellar dysfunction resulted in deficiencies of motor learning. Patients with cerebellar atrophy only or cerebellar atrophy combined with atrophy of the brainstem and age-matched normal subjects performed two tasks to assess improvements in skilled performance. The first task was repetitive tracing with the hand of an irregular geometric pattern with normal visual guidance, and the second task was repetitive tracing of a different geometric pattern with mirror-reversed vision. Patients with pathology limited to the cerebellum showed impairments in the skilled performance of the movement performed with normal vision that may have been related to a failure to alter movement strategy. Patients with added pathology in the brainstem exhibited impairments in adapting to mirror-reversed vision. Subsidiary experiments indicated that improvements of movements guided by mirror-reversed vision were mediated by vision. These results indicate that the cerebellum and its associated input pathways are involved in motor skill learning.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2005

Implicit motor learning of a balancing task.

This study examined the implicit learning of a balancing task. Three treatment conditions were constructed using different motor learning strategies. In two of the treatment conditions, explicit learning of the balancing task was impeded by using either an analogy or an errorless learning technique. In the third treatment condition, participants learnt the task by discovery learning, which typically results in explicit knowledge. It was hypothesised that in the analogy and errorless learning conditions, learning of the balancing task would be implicit in character. Three criteria of implicit learning were used to test this hypothesis; the accumulation of few explicit rules, robustness under secondary task loading and durability over time. Although the discovery learners acquired more explicit rules, all groups appear to have acquired the skill implicitly, in that all groups were robust to imposition of a concurrent task load and over time. Indeed, balance performance with a concurrent verbal task was better than balance performance alone. Discussion focuses on the contribution of verbal and non-verbal processes to balancing.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Impaired motor learning performance in cerebellar En-2 mutant mice.

Mice homozygous for a null mutation in their En-2 gene exhibit cerebellar neuroanatomical alterations including absence and misplacements of specific fissures and size reduction. The present study investigated cerebellar function by comparing the behavior of age-matched homozygous and heterozygous En-2 mutant and wild-type mice. Motor function of the mutants was found normal in several situations. Habituation to novelty in the open field was not significantly different in mutants. However, in a motor learning paradigm, the rotating rod, the performance of homozygous mutant mice improved significantly less than that of the heterozygous mice which were also significantly impaired compared to wild-type mice. Unlike other cerebellar mutants in which severe motor or sensory defects are obvious, the En-2 mouse model offers a unique tool to study the role of cerebellum in complex behavioral phenomena, including motor learning, without confounding effects.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

A study of motor performance and motor learning in episodic ataxia.

Episodic ataxias are rare disorders in which periodic episodes of ataxia are separated by normal or near normal motor behaviour. They probably arise from dysfunctional membrane ion channels in the cerebellum. A patient with episodic ataxia EA-2 performed three motor tasks, before, during and after an ataxic episode. In all three tasks there were significant performance deficits during the ataxic episode. Two of the tasks also assessed motor adaptation (prism adaptation) or motor learning (ideogram drawing). In neither task was there significant disruption of motor adaptation or learning. These results suggest that the cerebellum may have separate roles in learning and in performance of visually guided movements, and that the dysfunction in this patient affected only his motor performance.

Ataxia↗

PubMed2006

Endogenous cannabinoid signaling through the CB1 receptor is essential for cerebellum-dependent discrete motor learning.

Cannabinoids exert their psychomotor actions through the CB1 cannabinoid receptor in the brain. Genetic deletion of CB1 in mice causes various symptoms, including changes in locomotor activity, increased ring catalepsy, supraspinal hypoalgesia, and impaired memory extinction. Although the cerebellar cortex contains the highest level of CB1, severe cerebellum-related functional deficits have not been reported in CB1 knock-out mice. To clarify the roles of CB1 in cerebellar function, we subjected CB1 knock-out mice to a delay version of classical eyeblink conditioning. This paradigm is a test for cerebellum-dependent discrete motor learning, in which conditioned stimulus (CS) (352 ms tone) and unconditioned stimulus (US) (100 ms periorbital electrical shock) are coterminated. We found that delay eyeblink conditioning performance was severely impaired in CB1 knock-out mice. In contrast, they exhibited normal performance in a trace version of eyeblink conditioning with 500 ms stimulus-free interval intervened between the CS offset and the US onset. This paradigm is a test for hippocampus-dependent associative learning. Sensitivity of CB1 knock-out mice to CS or US was normal, suggesting that impaired delay eyeblink conditioning is attributable to defects in association of responses to CS and US. We also found that intraperitoneal injection of the CB1 antagonist SR141716A [N-piperidino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-3-pyrazole carboxamide] to wild-type mice caused severe impairment in acquisition but not extinction of delay eyeblink conditioning. SR141716A treatment had no effect on trace eyeblink conditioning with a 500 or 750 ms trace interval. These results indicate that endogenous cannabinoid signaling through CB1 is essential for cerebellum-dependent discrete motor learning, especially for its acquisition.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

PubMed2006

The effects of observational feedback and verbal cues on the motor learning of an aimed reach-and-point task.

PURPOSE: Current technology allows the recording of movement for both motion analysis and providing observational feedback. The most effective type of observational feedback is under debate. We compared a child's reach-and-point performance after viewing a videotaped playback of a model's performance and after viewing a split-screen comparison of the model's and child's performances while simultaneously receiving verbal cues. METHODS: A PTVision system provided observational feedback and recorded spatial trajectory, target accuracy, movement time, and joint angles while a 13 year-old boy with cerebral palsy reached for three targets. RESULTS: The split-screen comparison had the largest effect on reach performance, including slower-yet-more-accurate movements and a more extended wrist, curved spatial trajectories, and an ulnar-deviated wrist. CONCLUSIONS: Feedback using split-screen comparison between a model's and the child's performance with verbal cues appears to promote motor learning. When using technology to augment therapy, the intervention should be designed considering current motor learning principles.

Adolescent↗