Novelty exposure induces stronger sensorimotor representations during a manual adaptation task

From single-cell organisms to complex neural networks, all evolved to provide control solutions to generate context and goal-specific actions. Neural circuits performing sensorimotor computation to drive navigation employ inhibitory control as a gating mechanism, as they hierarchically transform (multi)sensory information into motor actions. Here, we focus on this literature to critically discuss the proposition that prominent inhibitory projections form sensorimotor circuits. After reviewing the neural circuits of navigation across various invertebrate species, we argue that with increased neural circuit complexity and the emergence of parallel computations inhibitory circuits acquire new functions. The contribution of inhibitory neurotransmission for navigation goes beyond shaping the communication that drives motor neurons, instead, include encoding of emergent sensorimotor representations. A mechanistic understanding of the neural circuits performing sensorimotor computations in invertebrates will unravel the minimum circuit requirements driving adaptive navigation.

Download Full-text

Evidence that endpoint feedback facilitates intermanual transfer of visuomotor force learning by a cognitive strategy

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00008.2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jack De Havas ◽

Patrick Haggard ◽

Hiroaki Gomi ◽

Sven Bestmann ◽

Yuji Ikegaya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Times ◽

Cognitive Strategies ◽

Cognitive Strategy ◽

Behavioral Observation ◽

Separate Experiment ◽

Intermanual Transfer ◽

Motor Representation ◽

Independent Manner ◽

Continuous Feedback ◽

Adaptation Task

Humans continuously adapt their movement to a novel environment by recalibrating their sensorimotor system. Recent evidence, however, shows that explicit planning to compensate for external changes, i.e. a cognitive strategy, can also aid performance. If such a strategy is indeed planned in external space, it should improve performance in an effector independent manner. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether promoting a cognitive strategy during a visual-force adaptation task performed in one hand can facilitate learning for the opposite hand. Participants rapidly adjusted the height of visual bar on screen to a target level by isometrically exerting force on a handle using their right hand. Visuomotor gain increased during the task and participants learned the increased gain. Visual feedback was continuously provided for one group, while for another group only the endpoint of the force trajectory was presented. The latter has been reported to promote cognitive strategy use. We found that endpoint feedback produced stronger intermanual transfer of learning and slower response times than continuous feedback. In a separate experiment, we found evidence that the aftereffect is indeed reduced when only endpoint feedback is provided, a finding that has been consistently observed when cognitive strategies are used. The results suggest that intermanual transfer can be facilitated by a cognitive strategy. This indicates that the behavioral observation of intermanual transfer can be achieved either by forming an effector-independent motor representation, or by sharing an effector-independent cognitive strategy between the hands.

Download Full-text

Multimodal imitation using self-learned sensorimotor representations

2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) ◽

10.1109/iros.2016.7759582 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Martina Zambelli ◽

Yiannis Demiris

Keyword(s):

Sensorimotor Representations

Download Full-text

Corticospinal correlates of fast and slow adaptive processes in motor learning

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00488.2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 120 (4) ◽

pp. 2011-2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Adjmal M. E. Sarwary ◽

Miles Wischnewski ◽

Dennis J. L. G. Schutter ◽

Luc P. J. Selen ◽

W. Pieter Medendorp

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Corticospinal Excitability ◽

Behavioral Observations ◽

Adaptive Processes ◽

Adaptation Processes ◽

Adaptation Task ◽

Adaptation Model

Recent computational theories and behavioral observations suggest that motor learning is supported by multiple adaptation processes, operating on different timescales, but direct neural evidence is lacking. We tested this hypothesis by applying transcranial magnetic stimulation over motor cortex in 16 human subjects during a validated reach adaptation task. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) and cortical silent periods (CSPs) were recorded from the biceps brachii to assess modulations of corticospinal excitability as indices for corticospinal plasticity. Guided by a two-state adaptation model, we show that the MEP reflects an adaptive process that learns quickly but has poor retention, while the CSP correlates with a process that responds more slowly but retains information well. These results provide a physiological link between models of motor learning and distinct changes in corticospinal excitability. Our findings support the relationship between corticospinal gain modulations and the adaptive processes in motor learning. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Computational theories and behavioral observations suggest that motor learning is supported by multiple adaptation processes, but direct neural evidence is lacking. We tested this hypothesis by applying transcranial magnetic stimulation over human motor cortex during a reach adaptation task. Guided by a two-state adaptation model, we show that the motor-evoked potential reflects a process that adapts and decays quickly, whereas the cortical silent period reflects slow adaptation and decay.

Download Full-text

Coming to Understand the Social and Physical Worlds

Inquiry@Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings ◽

10.24908/iqurcp.8361 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Sydney Hopkins

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Conceptual Development ◽

Theory Change ◽

Mental States ◽

Load Force ◽

New Information ◽

The Social ◽

The Individual ◽

Underlying Processes ◽

Adaptation Task

Children’s conceptual development has been described as a process of“theory change.” Specifically, children begin with an idea and then iteratively update that idea by combining existing and new information, making and testing predictions and then revising their idea based on new data again. Similar processes have been postulated to account for adaptive phenomenon in perceptual psychology and motor control. The similarities between the two processes suggest that performance on tasks that measure conceptual and sensory‐motor “theory change”respectively may be related. The goal of the present study is to determine whether children’s development in a complex conceptual domain, theory of mind, is associated with children’s performance in a load force adaptation paradigm. Theory of mind is broadly defined as the ability to understand how mental states, such as beliefs and desires, motivate ourown and other people’s actions. In contrast, load force adaptation is the ability to gradually adjust the amount of force exerted on an object in order to smoothly lift it up, as experience with the weight of the object is gained. To explore the mechanisms underlying these two processes, children between the ages of 3.5 and 4.5 years participate in a load force adaptation task and a battery of theory of mind tasks. We predict that since the underlying processes appear to be theoretically similar, the individual differences in the ability to adapt load force and in theory of mind ability will be positively correlated.

Download Full-text

Impaired Sensorimotor Adaption in Schizophrenia in Comparison to Age-Matched and Elderly Controls

Neuropsychobiology ◽

10.1159/000518867 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Claudia Cornelis ◽

Livia J. De Picker ◽

Violette Coppens ◽

Anne Morsel ◽

Maarten Timmers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Adaptation ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Sensorimotor Adaptation ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Reversal Task ◽

Elderly Individuals ◽

Gain Adaptation ◽

Learning Tasks ◽

Adaptation Task

Background: The “cognitive dysmetria hypothesis” of schizophrenia proposes a disrupted communication between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex, resulting in sensorimotor and cognitive symptoms. Sensorimotor adaptation relies strongly on the function of the cerebellum. Objectives: This study investigated whether sensorimotor adaptation is reduced in schizophrenia compared with age-matched and elderly healthy controls. Methods: Twenty-nine stably treated patients with schizophrenia, 30 age-matched, and 30 elderly controls were tested in three motor adaptation tasks in which visual movement feedback was unexpectedly altered. In the “rotation adaptation task” the perturbation consisted of a rotation (30° clockwise), in the “gain adaptation task” the extent of the movement feedback was reduced (by a factor of 0.7) and in the “vertical reversal task,” up- and downward pen movements were reversed by 180°. Results: Patients with schizophrenia adapted to the perturbations, but their movement times and errors were substantially larger than controls. Unexpectedly, the magnitude of adaptation was significantly smaller in schizophrenia than elderly participants. The impairment already occurred during the first adaptation trials, pointing to a decline in explicit strategy use. Additionally, post-adaptation aftereffects provided strong evidence for impaired implicit adaptation learning. Both negative and positive schizophrenia symptom severities were correlated with indices of the amount of adaptation and its aftereffects. Conclusions: Both explicit and implicit components of sensorimotor adaptation learning were reduced in patients with schizophrenia, adding to the evidence for a role of the cerebellum in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Elderly individuals outperformed schizophrenia patients in the adaptation learning tasks.

Download Full-text