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At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Abductor digiti quinti shuffleboard: a study in motor learning.

The purposes of this study were as follows: (1) to refine prior studies by investigating one muscle which provided all the agonistic motion involved in a novel motor task, (2) the pinpoint the exact time during which motor activity contributed to the final task, (3) to study the electrical changes that occurred in that one muscle as it developed skill, and (4) to compare the results of this study with the previous studies in this series. The muscle chosen for this study was the abductor digiti quinti of the nondominant hand and the novel task involved propelling a small plastic disk into a specific target area. Electromyography and cinematography were used in data collection. No statistically significant differences were found in prelearning and postlearning data with regard to electrical activity, movement time or range of movement. These results support a hypothesis earlier proposed by Payton to the effect that all the the agonists which contribute to a skilled performance begin as a relatively undifferentiated mass of muscle; as learning takes place the various elements of this muscle mass are differentiated into prime movers and auxiliaries. The electrical activity remains essentially the same in the prime movers while a marked reduction is seen in the auxiliary muscles. A reinterpretation of several earlier studies is suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Motor learning in the "podokinetic" system and its role in spatial orientation during locomotion.

The present study characterizes a previously reported adaptive phenomenon in a somatosensory-motor system involved in directional control of locomotor trajectory through foot contact with the floor. We call this the "podokinetic" (PK) system. Podokinetic adaptation was induced in six subjects by stepping in-place over the axis of a horizontally rotating disc over a range of disc angular velocities (11.25-90 degrees/s) and durations (7.5-60 min). After adaptation, subjects were blindfolded and attempted to step in-place on the floor without turning. Instead they all rotated relative to space. The rate of the "podokinetic afterrotation" (PKAR) was linearly related to stimulus amplitude up to 45 degrees/s, and the ratio of initial PKAR velocity to that of the adaptive stimulus was approximately 1:3. PKAR exhibited exponential decay, which was composed of "short-" and "long-term" components with "discharging" time constants on the order of 6-12 min and 1-2 h, respectively. The effect of stimulus duration on PKAR revealed a "charging" time constant that approximated that of the short-term component. A significant suppression of PKAR occurred during the 1 st min of the postadaptive response, suggesting functional interaction between the PK and vestibular systems during the period of vestibular stimulation. During PKAR subjects perceived no self-rotation, indicating that perception as well as locomotor control of spatial orientation were remodeled by adaptation of the PK system.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1992

A sensorimotor basis for motor learning: evidence indicating specificity of practice.

Our previous work (Proteau, Marteniuk, Girouard, & Dugas, 1987) was concerned with determining whether with relatively extensive practice on a movement aiming task, as the skill theoretically starts becoming open-loop, there would be evidence for a decreasing emphasis on visual feedback for motor control. We eliminated vision of the moving limb after moderate and extensive practice and found that the movement became more dependent on this feedback with greater amounts of practice. In the present study, we wished to test the hypothesis, developed from our previous work, that at the base of movement learning is a sensorimotor representation that consists of integrated information from central processes and sensory feedback derived from previous experiences on the movement task. A strong test of this hypothesis would be the prediction that for an aiming task, the addition of vision, after moderate and relatively extensive practice without vision, would lead to an increasingly large movement decrement, relative to appropriate controls. We found good support for this prediction. From these and our previous results, and the idea of the sensorimotor representation underlying learning, we develop the idea that learning is specific to the conditions that prevail during skill acquisition. This has implications for the ideas of the generalized motor program and schema theory.

Feedback↗
PubMed2001

The interaction of spatial ability and motor learning in the transfer of training from a simulator to a real task.

Virtual Reality (VR) based simulators have been used as a training tool in many settings, although very few studies examine transfer of training from simulators to a real world task, particularly for manipulation tasks. Simulators could play a key role as an enabling technology for manipulation tasks related to teleoperation, and medical procedure training. We investigated the relationship between motor tasks and participants' spatial abilities. This relationship was further examined with respect to learning in a simulator and to transfer of training from the simulator to the real world on a pick-and-place task. Spatial abilities were characterized using a battery of recognition and manipulation figural tests. Subjects with lower spatial abilities demonstrated significant positive transfer from a simulator based training task to a similar real world robotic operation task. Subjects with higher spatial skills did not respond as positively from training in a simulated environment.

Aptitude↗
PubMed2003

Delayed motor learning and psychomotor slowing in HIV-infected children.

OBJECTIVE: To find out whether HIV-associated subclinical psychomotor slowing is present in HIV-infected children despite effective highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). PATIENTS AND METHODS: An electrophysiological motor test battery shown to sensitively describe HIV-associated CNS disease in adults (tremor peak frequency []TPF], most rapid alternating movements [MRAM], reaction time [RT] and contraction time [CT]) was performed in 17 HIV seropositive (+) right-handed children. Results were compared to 16 HIV seronegative (-) children. RESULTS: HIV (-) children showed slower frequencies (TPF, MRAM) and longer RT and CT than (-) adults. They showed a significant correlation (p = 0.0263) between RT (right = dominant hand) and age. HIV (+) children showed significant prolongations of RT (right hand) and CT (both hands) compared to HIV (-) children. RT right hand did not accelerate with age in HIV (+) children. CT were significantly prolonged in 10 children with detectable HIV plasma viral burden and normal in 7 children with no detectable HIV plasma viral load. There was no correlation between CT and CD 4 cell counts. CONCLUSIONS: Despite effective HAART, electrophysiological motor testing in HIV (+) children reveals significant subclinical CNS dysfunction, especially in children with insufficient viral load suppression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Functional Interaction Between NMDA and mGlu5 Receptors: Effects on Working Memory, Instrumental Learning, Motor Behaviors, and Dopamine Release.

Pharmacological manipulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors may be critical for the treatment of many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu5) receptors are abundant in corticolimbic circuitry, where they modulate NMDA receptor-mediated signal transduction. Therefore, pharmacological manipulation of mGlu5 receptor may provide a treatment strategy for cognitive disorders that are associated with NMDA receptor dysfunction. We sought to determine whether the recently described molecular and cellular interactions between NMDA and mGlu5 receptors coregulate higher order behaviors. We examined the interaction of the selective mGlu5 receptor antagonist, 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP), and the use-dependent NMDA antagonist MK-801, on locomotion, stereotypy, working memory, instrumental learning, and corticolimbic dopamine release. MPEP, at 10 mg/kg, but not 3 mg/kg, impaired working memory and instrumental learning, transiently increased dopamine release in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, and augmented the effect of MK-801 on cortical dopamine release, locomotion, and stereotypy. Pretreatment with 3 mg/kg of MPEP enhanced the detrimental effects of MK-801 on cognition. These results demonstrate that an mGlu5 receptor antagonist can potentiate the motoric, cognitive, and dopaminergic effects of an NMDA receptor antagonist. Thus, mGlu5 receptors appear to play a major role in regulating NMDA receptor-dependent cognitive functions such as learning and working memory. By extension, these results suggest that pharmacological potentiation of mGlu5 receptors may ameliorate the cognitive and other behavioral abnormalities associated with NMDA receptor deficiency.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2003

Neural mechanisms of reward-related motor learning.

The analysis of the neural mechanisms responsible for reward-related learning has benefited from recent studies of the effects of dopamine on synaptic plasticity. Dopamine-dependent synaptic plasticity may lead to strengthening of selected inputs on the basis of an activity-dependent conjunction of sensory afferent activity, motor output activity, and temporally related firing of dopamine cells. Such plasticity may provide a link between the reward-related firing of dopamine cells and the acquisition of changes in striatal cell activity during learning. This learning mechanism may play a special role in the translation of reward signals into context-dependent response probability or directional bias in movement responses.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Modular motor learning.

An interesting theory of sensorimotor control has been recently extended and simulated. The simulation can learn to control an arm in several mutually exclusive 'contexts', situations where the arm carries one of four objects with different mechanical properties. It provides a good theoretical framework for testing biological motor systems.

Journal Article↗