Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Cross-sectional studies suggest that motor skill learning is associated with working memory (WM) and white matter integrity (WMI). However, it has not been established whether motor skill learning improves WM performance, and information on its neural mechanisms have not been clearly elucidated. Therefore, this study compared WM and WMI across time points prior to and following football juggling learning, in early adulthood (18–20 years old), relative to a control group. Study participants in the experimental group were subjected to football juggling for 10 weeks while participants in the control category went on with their routine life activities for the same period of time and were not involved in the learning-related activities. Data on cognitive measurements and that from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were collected before and after learning. There was a significant improvement in WM performance of the experimental group after motor learning, although no improvement was observed in the control group. Additionally, after learning, DTI data revealed a significant increase in functional anisotropy (FA) in the genu of corpus callosum (GOCC) and the right anterior corona radiata (R.ACR) in the experimental group. Moreover, the better WM associated with football juggling learning was correlated to a higher FA. Mediation analysis suggested that FA in the GOCC acts as a mediation variable between football juggling learning and WM. These findings show that motor skill learning improves the WM and remodels WMI in early adulthood. With a particular emphasis on the importance of WMI in motor skill learning and WM, this study also revealed the possible neural mechanisms mediated by WMI.

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Motor-Skill Learning Is Dependent on Astrocytic Activity

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2015/938023 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Ragunathan Padmashri ◽

Anand Suresh ◽

Michael D. Boska ◽

Anna Dunaevsky

Keyword(s):

Motor Skill ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Skill Training ◽

Long Term Potentiation ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Metabolic Inhibitor ◽

Motor Skill Learning ◽

Reaching Task ◽

Learning Impairment

Motor-skill learning induces changes in synaptic structure and function in the primary motor cortex through the involvement of a long-term potentiation- (LTP-) like mechanism. Although there is evidence that calcium-dependent release of gliotransmitters by astrocytes plays an important role in synaptic transmission and plasticity, the role of astrocytes in motor-skill learning is not known. To test the hypothesis that astrocytic activity is necessary for motor-skill learning, we perturbed astrocytic function using pharmacological and genetic approaches. We find that perturbation of astrocytes either by selectively attenuating IP3R2 mediated astrocyte Ca2+signaling or using an astrocyte specific metabolic inhibitor fluorocitrate (FC) results in impaired motor-skill learning of a forelimb reaching-task in mice. Moreover, the learning impairment caused by blocking astrocytic activity using FC was rescued by administration of the gliotransmitter D-serine. The learning impairments are likely caused by impaired LTP as FC blocked LTP in slices and prevented motor-skill training-induced increases in synaptic AMPA-type glutamate receptorin vivo. These results support the conclusion that normal astrocytic Ca2+signaling during a reaching task is necessary for motor-skill learning.

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Temporal dynamics of cerebellar and motor cortex physiological processes during motor skill learning

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/srep40715 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

D. Spampinato ◽

P. Celnik

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Motor Skill Learning ◽

Physiological Processes

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Distinguishable Brain Activation Networks for Short- and Long-Term Motor Skill Learning

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00717.2004 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 94 (1) ◽

pp. 512-518 ◽

Cited By ~ 222

Author(s):

A. Floyer-Lea ◽

P. M. Matthews

Keyword(s):

Motor Skill ◽

Isometric Force ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Motor Skill Learning ◽

Short Term ◽

Learning Stage ◽

The Right

The acquisition of a new motor skill is characterized first by a short-term, fast learning stage in which performance improves rapidly, and subsequently by a long-term, slower learning stage in which additional performance gains are incremental. Previous functional imaging studies have suggested that distinct brain networks mediate these two stages of learning, but direct comparisons using the same task have not been performed. Here we used a task in which subjects learn to track a continuous 8-s sequence demanding variable isometric force development between the fingers and thumb of the dominant, right hand. Learning-associated changes in brain activation were characterized using functional MRI (fMRI) during short-term learning of a novel sequence, during short-term learning after prior, brief exposure to the sequence, and over long-term (3 wk) training in the task. Short-term learning was associated with decreases in activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, posterior parietal, primary motor, and cerebellar cortex, and with increased activation in the right cerebellar dentate nucleus, the left putamen, and left thalamus. Prefrontal, parietal, and cerebellar cortical changes were not apparent with short-term learning after prior exposure to the sequence. With long-term learning, increases in activity were found in the left primary somatosensory and motor cortex and in the right putamen. Our observations extend previous work suggesting that distinguishable networks are recruited during the different phases of motor learning. While short-term motor skill learning seems associated primarily with activation in a cortical network specific for the learned movements, long-term learning involves increased activation of a bihemispheric cortical-subcortical network in a pattern suggesting “plastic” development of new representations for both motor output and somatosensory afferent information.

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A toolkit for motion authoring and motor skill learning in serious games

2014 IEEE International Symposium on Haptic, Audio and Visual Environments and Games (HAVE) Proceedings ◽

10.1109/have.2014.6954332 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ramin Tadayon ◽

Sethuraman Panchanathan ◽

Troy McDaniel ◽

Bijan Fakhri ◽

Miles Laff

Keyword(s):

Motor Skill ◽

Serious Games ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Motor Skill Learning

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