scholarly journals Effects of tDCS on motor learning and memory formation: a consensus and critical position paper

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan R Buch ◽  
Emiliano Santarnecchi ◽  
Andrea Antal ◽  
Jan Born ◽  
Pablo A Celnik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition

AbstractMotor skills are required for activities of daily living. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied in association with motor skill learning has been investigated as a tool for enhancing training effects in health and disease. Here, we review the published literature investigating whether tDCS can facilitate the acquisition and retention of motor skills and adaptation. A majority of reports focused on the application of tDCS with the anode placed over the primary motor cortex (M1) during motor skill acquisition, while some evaluated tDCS applied over the cerebellum during adaptation of existing motor skills. Work in multiple laboratories is under way to develop a mechanistic understanding of tDCS effects on different forms of learning and to optimize stimulation protocols. Efforts are required to improve reproducibility and standardization. Overall, reproducibility remains to be fully tested, effect sizes with present techniques are moderate (up to d= 0.5) (Hashemirad, Zoghi, Fitzgerald, & Jaberzadeh, 2016) and the basis of inter-individual variability in tDCS effects is incompletely understood. It is recommended that future studies explicitly state in the Methods the exploratory (hypothesis-generating) or hypothesis-driven (confirmatory) nature of the experimental designs. General research practices could be improved with prospective pre-registration of hypothesis-based investigations, more emphasis on the detailed description of methods (including all pertinent details to enable future modeling of induced current and experimental replication) and use of post-publication open data repositories. A checklist is proposed for reporting tDCS investigations in a way that can improve efforts to assess reproducibility.

The Effect of Aimed Movements in Sequenced Motor Skill Learning Motor Skill Acquisition Using Aiming and the SRTT

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle V. Thompson ◽  
Janet L. Utschig ◽  
Mikaela K. Vaughan ◽  
Marc V. Richard ◽  
Benjamin A. Clegg
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition

Motor Skill Acquisition in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Missiuna
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Developmental Coordination Disorder ◽  
Matched Control ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Stages Of Learning ◽  
Coordination Disorder ◽  
Effect Of Age

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) demonstrate coordination difficulties during the learning of novel motor skills; no previous studies, however, have investigated their ability to learn and then generalize a new movement. This study compared 24 young children with DCD with 24 age-matched control children (AMC) during the early stages of learning a simple aiming task. Children with DCD were found to perform more poorly than their peers on measures of acquired motor skill, and to react and move more slowly at every level of task performance. The effect of age and its relationship to practice of the task was also different within each group. The groups did not differ, however, in their rate of learning, or in the extent to which they were able to generalize the learned movement. Children with DCD sacrificed more speed than the AMC group when aiming at a small target, but the effects of amplitude and directional changes were quite similar for each group. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Early motor development in infants with moderate or severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
S.B. DeMauro ◽  
M. Burkhardt ◽  
A. Wood ◽  
K. Nilan ◽  
E.A. Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition

BACKGROUND: Timely development of early motor skills is essential for later skill development in multiple domains. Infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) have significant risk for developmental delays. Early motor skill development in this population has not been described. The aim of the present study was to characterize motor skill acquisition at 3 and 6 months corrected age (CA) and assess trajectories of skill development over this time period in infants with severe BPD. METHODS: We performed a single-center, retrospective descriptive study. Motor skills were categorized as present and normal, present but atypical, or absent at 3 and 6 months CA. Logistic regression was used to identify clinical characteristics associated with negative trajectories of skill acquisition. RESULTS: Data were available for 232 infants and 187 infants at 3 and 6 months CA, respectively. Ten motor skills were present and normal in 5–44%(range) of subjects at 3 months. Nineteen motor skills were present and normal in 1–63%(range) of subjects at 6 months. Significant postural asymmetry was noted throughout the study period. Loss of skills and worsening asymmetries over time were common. Exposure to sedating medications was significantly associated with poor development. CONCLUSION: We report delays in motor skill acquisition and postural asymmetries in infants with severe BPD at both 3 and 6 months CA. The association between sedating medications and poor development suggests that efforts to limit these exposures may lead to improved development. Targeted interventions to facilitate early motor development may improve outcomes of this high-risk population.

New roles for dopamine in motor skill acquisition: Lessons from primates, rodents, and songbirds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alynda N Wood
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Model Free ◽  
Species Comparisons

Motor learning is a core aspect of human life, and appears to be ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. Dopamine, a neuromodulator with a multifaceted role in synaptic plasticity, may be a key signaling molecule for motor skill learning. Though typically studied in the context of reward-based associative learning, dopamine appears to be necessary for some types of motor learning. Mesencephalic dopamine structures are highly conserved among vertebrates, as are some of their primary targets within the basal ganglia, a subcortical circuit important for motor learning and motor control. With a focus on the benefits of cross-species comparisons, this review examines how "model-free" and "model-based" computational frameworks for understanding dopamine's role in associative learning may be applied to motor learning. The hypotheses that dopamine could drive motor learning either by functioning as a reward prediction error, through passive facilitating of normal basal ganglia activity, or through other mechanisms are examined in light of new studies using humans, rodents, and songbirds. Additionally, new paradigms that could enhance our understanding of dopamine's role in motor learning by bridging the gap between the theoretical literature on motor learning in humans and other species are discussed.

Learning Style Consistency across Cognitive and Motor Settings

1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 1023-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Coker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Classroom Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Learning Styles Inventory ◽  
Style Consistency ◽  
Sport Analysis

23 athletes were asked to complete the Learning Styles Inventory first focusing on classroom learning, then on learning in their sport. Analysis indicated that learning styles shift across cognitive and motor settings. As a result, to ensure the validity of the results, giving respondents a particular focus when taking the inventory may be necessary. The development of an instrument designed strictly for motor skills might be helpful to assess successfully learners' profiles for motor skill acquisition.

scholarly journals Locomotor play drives motor skill acquisition at the expense of growth: A life history trade-off

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. e1500451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Berghänel ◽  
Oliver Schülke ◽  
Julia Ostner
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Energy Restriction ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Natural Food ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Surplus Energy ◽  
Assamese Macaques

The developmental costs and benefits of early locomotor play are a puzzling topic in biology, psychology, and health sciences. Evolutionary theory predicts that energy-intensive behavior such as play can only evolve if there are considerable benefits. Prominent theories propose that locomotor play is (i) low cost, using surplus energy remaining after growth and maintenance, and (ii) beneficial because it trains motor skills. However, both theories are largely untested. Studying wild Assamese macaques, we combined behavioral observations of locomotor play and motor skill acquisition with quantitative measures of natural food availability and individual growth rates measured noninvasively via photogrammetry. Our results show that investments in locomotor play were indeed beneficial by accelerating motor skill acquisition but carried sizable costs in terms of reduced growth. Even under moderate natural energy restriction, investment in locomotor play accounted for up to 50% of variance in growth, which strongly contradicts the current theory that locomotor play only uses surplus energy remaining after growth and maintenance. Male immatures played more, acquired motor skills faster, and grew less than female immatures, leading to persisting size differences until the age of female maturity. Hence, depending on skill requirements, investment in play can take ontogenetic priority over physical development unconstrained by costs of play with consequences for life history, which strongly highlights the ontogenetic and evolutionary importance of play.

scholarly journals Increasing motor skill acquisition by driving theta-gamma coupling

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haya Akkad ◽  
Joshua Dupont-Hadwen ◽  
Amba Frese ◽  
Irena Tetkovic ◽  
Liam Barrett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Gamma Activity ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Adaptive Process ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation ◽  
The Brain

AbstractSkill learning is a fundamental adaptive process, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Hippocampal learning is closely associated with gamma activity, which is amplitude-modulated by the phase of underlying theta activity. Whether such nested activity patterns also underpin skill acquisition in non-hippocampal tasks is unknown. Here we addressed this question by using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over sensorimotor cortex to modulate theta-gamma activity during motor skill acquisition, as an exemplar of a non-hippocampal-dependent task. We demonstrated, and then replicated, a significant improvement in skill acquisition with theta-gamma tACS, which outlasted the stimulation by an hour. Our results suggest that theta-gamma activity may be a common mechanism for learning across the brain and provides a putative novel intervention for optimising functional improvements in response to training or therapy.

scholarly journals Fundamental motor skills for 10 and 12 & under tennis players

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (69) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Sackey-Addo ◽  
Javier Pérez ◽  
Miguel Crespo
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Summary Table ◽  
Tennis Players ◽  
Fundamental Motor Skills ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Motor Skill Development

In this article an overview of the main characteristics of motor skill development for 10 and 12 & under tennis players are presented. Several key concepts related to this crucial area will be introduced and defined. A summary table including several guidelines on fundamental motor skill acquisition for the different stages of development is presented.

Symmetric interlimb transfer of newly acquired skilled movements

2020 ◽  
Vol 124 (5) ◽  
pp. 1364-1376
Author(s):  
Goldy Yadav ◽  
Pratik K. Mutha
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Learning Rate ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Motor Skill Acquisition ◽  
Task Level

How newly acquired motor skills generalize across effectors is not well understood. Here, we show that newly learned skilled actions transfer symmetrically across the arms and that task-level variability influences learning rate but not transfer magnitude or direction. Interestingly, strategies developed during learning with one arm transfer to the untrained arm. This likely reflects the outcome of learning driven by cognitive mechanisms during the initial stages of motor skill acquisition.

Primary motor cortex disinhibition during motor skill learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Coxon ◽  
Nicola M. Peat ◽  
Winston D. Byblow
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Pinch Grip

Motor learning requires practice over a period of time and depends on brain plasticity, yet even for relatively simple movements, there are multiple practice strategies that can be used for skill acquisition. We investigated the role of intracortical inhibition in the primary motor cortex (M1) during motor skill learning. Event-related transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to assess corticomotor excitability and inhibition thought to involve synaptic and extrasynaptic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Short intracortical inhibition (SICI) was assessed using 1- and 2.5-ms interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Participants learned a novel, sequential pinch-grip task on a computer in either a repetitive or interleaved practice structure. Both practice structures showed equivalent levels of motor performance at the end of acquisition and at retention 1 wk later. There was a novel task-related modulation of 1-ms SICI. Repetitive practice elicited a greater reduction of 1- and 2.5-ms SICI, i.e., disinhibition, between rest and task acquisition, compared with interleaved practice. These novel findings support the use of a repetitive practice structure for motor learning because the associated effects within M1 have relevance for motor rehabilitation.

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