Robotic Platform with Visual Paradigm to Induce Motor Learning in Healthy Subjects

The present study aimed at investigating changes in behavior (shooting precision) and electrophysiological variables (absolute alpha power) during the motor learning of practical pistol shooting. The sample was composed of 23 healthy subjects, right-handed, male, between 18 and 20 years of age. The task consisted of four learning blocks. A One-way ANOVA with repeated measures and a post hoc analysis were employed to observe modifications on behavioral and electrophysiological measures (p<0.05). The results showed significative differences between blocks according to motor learning, and a significant improvement in shooting's accuracy from both blocks. It was observed a decrease in alpha power in all electrodes examined during task execution when compared with baseline and learning control blocks. The findings suggest that alpha power decreases as the function of the motor learning task when subjects are engaged in the motor execution.

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Reversed Polarity bi-tDCS over M1 during a Five Days Motor Task Training Did Not Influenced Motor Learning. A Triple-Blind Clinical Trial

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11060691 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 691

Author(s):

Laura Flix-Diez ◽

Miguel Delicado-Miralles ◽

Francisco Gurdiel-Álvarez ◽

Enrique Velasco ◽

María Galán-Calle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Motor Learning ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Direct Current ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Motor Task ◽

Placebo Treatment ◽

Task Training ◽

Reversed Polarity ◽

Motor Dexterity

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been investigated as a way of improving motor learning. Our purpose was to explore the reversal bilateral tDCS effects on manual dexterity training, during five days, with the retention component measured after 5 days to determine whether somatosensory effects were produced. In this randomized, triple-blind clinical trial, 28 healthy subjects (14 women) were recruited and randomized into tDCS and placebo groups, although only 23 participants (13 women) finished the complete protocol. Participants received the real or placebo treatment during five consecutive days, while performing a motor dexterity training program of 20 min. The motor dexterity and the sensitivity of the hand were assessed pre- and post-day 1, post 5 days of training, and 5 days after training concluded. Training improved motor dexterity, but tDCS only produced a tendency to improve retention. The intervention did not produce changes in the somatosensory variables assessed. Thus, reversal bi-tDCS had no effects during motor learning on healthy subjects, but it could favor the retention of the motor skills acquired. These results do not support the cooperative inter-hemispheric model.

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Effects of LTP-like versus LTD-like plasticity on subsequent motor learning in healthy subjects

Brain Stimulation ◽

10.1016/j.brs.2008.06.063 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 249

Author(s):

P. Jung ◽

U. Ziemann

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Healthy Subjects

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Reward boosts reinforcement-based motor learning

10.1101/2021.03.23.436627 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pierre Vassiliadis ◽

Gerard Derosiere ◽

Cecile Dubuc ◽

Aegryan Lete ◽

Frederic Crevecoeur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Beneficial Effect ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Motor Skill Learning ◽

Rehabilitation Protocols ◽

Motor Component ◽

Task Success ◽

Level Of Motivation

AbstractBesides relying heavily on sensory and reinforcement feedback, motor skill learning may also depend on the level of motivation experienced during training. Yet, how motivation by reward modulates motor learning remains unclear. In 90 healthy subjects, we investigated the net effect of motivation by reward on motor learning while controlling for the sensory and reinforcement feedback received by the participants. Reward improved motor skill learning beyond performance-based reinforcement feedback. Importantly, the beneficial effect of reward involved a specific potentiation of reinforcement-related adjustments in motor commands, which concerned primarily the most relevant motor component for task success and persisted on the following day in the absence of reward. We propose that the long-lasting effects of motivation on motor learning may entail a form of associative learning resulting from the repetitive pairing of the reinforcement feedback and reward during training, a mechanism that may be exploited in future rehabilitation protocols.

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Learning of a postural control task by elderly post-stroke patients

Motricidade ◽

10.6063/motricidade.7004 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 141

Author(s):

Giordano Marcio Gatinho Bonuzzi ◽

Tatiana Beline Freitas ◽

Umberto Cesar Corrêa ◽

Andrea Michele Freudenheim ◽

José Eduardo Pompeu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Postural Control ◽

Learning Process ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Task Complexity ◽

Control Group ◽

Control Task ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Post Stroke ◽

Experimental Group

<p class="ResumoAbstract">The aim of this study was to compare the learning process of a postural control task between post-stroke patients and healthy subjects. The sample was composed of 20 post-stroke individuals (Experimental Group) and 20 aged matched healthy individuals (Control Group). Participants practiced a postural control task in a virtual environment with increasing of complexity. The study design involved four phases: pre-test (five trials), acquisition phase (four blocks of thirty minutes), post-test (five trials), and retention test (five trials after a week without practice). The statistical analysis was run by a 2 x 3 ANOVA (groups x learning tests). Results: There was no difference in motor learning between Experimental Group and Control Group (F= 41.22; p=0.88). In addition, it was founded that the Control Group could learn the task in a higher-level complexity than Experimental Group (F = 4.77; p = 0.01), and both groups increased the error during the trials of practice (F = 0.53; p = 0.00) because of task complexity. Conclusion: Therefore has been found that post-stroke individuals have the ability to learn a postural control task similar to healthy subjects, and the task complexity seems to be a key-factor in order to differentiate stroke from healthy subject's motor learning process.</p>

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Comparison Between Parkinson Disease Patients and Healthy Subjects in a Procedural Motor Learning Task: Preliminary Results

10.1115/imece1999-0078 ◽

1999 ◽

Author(s):

Hermano I. Krebs ◽

Neville Hogan ◽

Wayne Hening ◽

Sergei Adamovich ◽

Howard Poizner

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Parkinson Disease ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Learning Task ◽

The Novel ◽

Learning Deficit ◽

Mechanical Environment ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Equivalent Age ◽

Point To Point

Abstract We are studying if Parkinson disease patients (PD) have a learning deficit, particularly a procedural motor learning deficit. PD patients, age-matched and young adult controls were asked to execute point-to-point movements in a “virtual mechanical environment” generated by a portable robot. We compare the learning rate of subjects while they learned to manipulate the novel force field. Our preliminary results suggest that PD patients present a deficit in the rate of procedural motor learning and that we can estimate their learning specific “equivalent” age.

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No effects of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation on force field and visuomotor reach adaptation in young and healthy subjects

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00352.2018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 (6) ◽

pp. 2112-2125 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

A. Mamlins ◽

T. Hulst ◽

O. Donchin ◽

D. Timmann ◽

J. Claassen

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Force Field ◽

Direct Current ◽

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Motor Adaptation ◽

Visuomotor Rotation ◽

Direct Current Stimulation ◽

Cerebellar Tdcs ◽

Adaptation Task

Previous studies have shown that cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) leads to faster adaptation of arm reaching movements to visuomotor rotation and force field perturbations in healthy subjects. The first aim of the present study was to confirm a stimulation-dependent effect on motor adaptation. Second, we investigated whether tDCS effects differ depending on onset, that is, before or at the beginning of the adaptation phase. A total of 120 healthy and right-handed subjects (60 women, mean age 23.2 ± SD 2.7 yr, range 18–31 yr) were tested. Subjects moved a cursor with a manipulandum to one of eight targets presented on a vertically orientated screen. Three baseline blocks were followed by one adaptation block and three washout blocks. Sixty subjects did a force field adaptation task (FF), and 60 subjects did a visuomotor adaptation task (VM). Equal numbers of subjects received anodal, cathodal, or sham cerebellar tDCS beginning either in the third baseline block or at the start of the adaptation block. In FF and VM, tDCS and the onset of tDCS did not show a significant effect on motor adaptation (all P values >0.05). We were unable to support previous findings of modulatory cerebellar tDCS effects in reaching adaptation tasks in healthy subjects. Prior to possible application in patients with cerebellar disease, future experiments are needed to determine which tDCS and task parameters lead to robust tDCS effects. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool to improve motor learning. We investigated whether cerebellar tDCS improves motor learning in force field and visuomotor tasks in healthy subjects and what influence the onset of stimulation has. We did not find stimulation effects of tDCS or an effect of onset of stimulation. A reevaluation of cerebellar tDCS in healthy subjects and at the end of the clinical potential in cerebellar patients is demanded.

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Effects of a cognitive modulator in the theta and alpha asymmetry during a typewriting task: a sensorimotor integration perspective

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/s0004-282x2009000200008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 67 (2a) ◽

pp. 214-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marlo Cunha ◽

Sergio Machado ◽

Luiz Cláudio Miana ◽

Dionis Machado ◽

Victor Hugo Bastos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Visual Information ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Sensorimotor Integration ◽

Experimental Task ◽

Improve Performance ◽

Alpha Asymmetry ◽

Unpredictable Environments ◽

Psychomotor Functions

This study aimed to elucidate cortical mechanisms and to identify the areas where occur such mechanisms due to interaction between bromazepam and motor learning. The sample was composed of 45 healthy subjects randomly distributed in 3 groups: placebo (n=15), bromazepam 3 mg (n=15) or bromazepam 6 mg (n=15). To perform the experimental task, subjects sat comfortably at a distance of approximately 20 cm from the typewriter. The typewriter keyboard was covered with a wooden box to avoid visual information about the hands' position. The typewriting task was performed concomitantly with EEG recording. ANOVA two-way results indicated a decreased asymmetry in sensorimotor areas in the experimental groups. Our interpretation is that moderate doses of bromazepam may improve performance on tasks with predictable elements to promote stability of psychomotor functions, but may also impair performance on tasks executed in unpredictable environments.

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