The relationship between reinforcement and explicit strategies during visuomotor adaptation

AbstractThe motor system’s ability to adapt to changes in the environment is essential for maintaining accurate movements. During such adaptation several distinct systems are recruited: cerebellar sensory-prediction error learning, success-based reinforcement, and explicit strategy-use. Although much work has focused on the relationship between cerebellar learning and strategy-use, there is little research regarding how reinforcement and strategy-use interact. To address this, participants first learnt a 20° visuomotor displacement. After reaching asymptotic performance, binary, hit-or-miss feedback (BF) was introduced either with or without visual feedback, the latter promoting reinforcement. Subsequently, retention was assessed using no-feedback trials, with half of the participants in each group being instructed to stop using any strategy. Although BF led to an increase in retention of the visuomotor displacement, instructing participants to remove their strategy nullified this effect, suggesting strategy-use is critical to BF-based reinforcement. In a second experiment, we prevented the expression or development of a strategy during BF performance, by either constraining participants to a short preparation time (expression) or by introducing the displacement gradually (development). As both strongly impaired BF performance, it suggests reinforcement requires both the development and expression of a strategy. These results emphasise a pivotal role of strategy-use during reinforcement-based motor learning.

Download Full-text

Strategy Instruction and Transfer in the EFL Classroom

Forum for Linguistic Studies ◽

10.18063/fls.v1i1.1086 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Robyn L. Najar

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Strategy Instruction ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Mixed Design ◽

Language Classroom ◽

Learning Instruction ◽

The Relationship ◽

And Task

This study examines the generalizability of research in the areas of instruction; learning; and transfer of learning to the role these play in the area of the use of strategic competencies in foreign language contexts (FLC). While previous studies have tended towards a focus on learner variables, this study includes the conditions of applicability with a task that can impact learning and transfer as well. The contributions of both variables, learner and task, were investigated through note-taking strategy instruction and transfer, to ascertain the effect on reading comprehension of textual materials in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. Learning was measured as a precursor to transfer. In order to investigate the role of instruction and transfer in the transfer of strategy use, a mixed design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches for design and analysis was used. Findings suggest that the relationship between instruction and transfer as represented by strategy use and task performance is a multidimensional one, and that there are implications for language learning instruction in the foreign language classroom.

Download Full-text

Promoting Athlete Mental Health: The Role of Emotion Regulation

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2021-0022 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

Georgia A. Bird ◽

Mary L. Quinton ◽

Jennifer Cumming

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Managing Stress ◽

Cross Sectional Design ◽

Mental Well Being ◽

The Relationship ◽

University Athletes

This study investigated the relationship between reappraisal and suppression with depression and mental well-being among university athletes. It was hypothesized reappraisal would associate with lower depression and greater mental well-being, whereas suppression would associate with greater depression and reduced mental well-being. Employing a cross-sectional design, 427 participants (Mage = 20.18, SD = 1.52; 188 males and 239 females) completed questionnaires assessing mental health and strategy use. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed reappraisal was positively associated, and suppression negatively associated with mental well-being, ΔR2 = 4.8%, ΔF(2, 422) = 17.01, p ≤ .001; suppression, β = −0.08, p = .028; reappraisal, β = 0.21, p ≤ .001, but neither were associated with depression, ΔR2 = 0.4%, ΔF(2, 422) = 1.33, p = .267; suppression, β = 0.06, p = .114; reappraisal, β = 0.03, p = .525. Results highlight reappraisal as correlated with mental well-being in student-athletes, and therefore, reappraisal could be beneficial for managing stress in sport. Reappraisal may implicate how well-being is promoted through sport, but future experimental research is needed to confirm causal relationships.

Download Full-text

Can patients with cerebellar disease switch learning mechanisms to reduce their adaptation deficits?

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awy334 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 142 (3) ◽

pp. 662-673 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Aaron L Wong ◽

Cherie L Marvel ◽

Jordan A Taylor ◽

John W Krakauer

Keyword(s):

Prediction Error ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Cerebellar Degeneration ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Cerebellar Disease ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

Visuomotor Rotation ◽

Age Related ◽

Sensory Prediction

Abstract Systematic perturbations in motor adaptation tasks are primarily countered by learning from sensory-prediction errors, with secondary contributions from other learning processes. Despite the availability of these additional processes, particularly the use of explicit re-aiming to counteract observed target errors, patients with cerebellar degeneration are surprisingly unable to compensate for their sensory-prediction error deficits by spontaneously switching to another learning mechanism. We hypothesized that if the nature of the task was changed—by allowing vision of the hand, which eliminates sensory-prediction errors—patients could be induced to preferentially adopt aiming strategies to solve visuomotor rotations. To test this, we first developed a novel visuomotor rotation paradigm that provides participants with vision of their hand in addition to the cursor, effectively setting the sensory-prediction error signal to zero. We demonstrated in younger healthy control subjects that this promotes a switch to strategic re-aiming based on target errors. We then showed that with vision of the hand, patients with cerebellar degeneration could also switch to an aiming strategy in response to visuomotor rotations, performing similarly to age-matched participants (older controls). Moreover, patients could retrieve their learned aiming solution after vision of the hand was removed (although they could not improve beyond what they retrieved), and retain it for at least 1 year. Both patients and older controls, however, exhibited impaired overall adaptation performance compared to younger healthy controls (age 18–33 years), likely due to age-related reductions in spatial and working memory. Patients also failed to generalize, i.e. they were unable to adopt analogous aiming strategies in response to novel rotations. Hence, there appears to be an inescapable obligatory dependence on sensory-prediction error-based learning—even when this system is impaired in patients with cerebellar disease. The persistence of sensory-prediction error-based learning effectively suppresses a switch to target error-based learning, which perhaps explains the unexpectedly poor performance by patients with cerebellar degeneration in visuomotor adaptation tasks.

Download Full-text

Habituation to Feedback Delay Restores Degraded Visuomotor Adaptation by Altering Both Sensory Prediction Error and the Sensitivity of Adaptation to the Error

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00540 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Takuya Honda ◽

Masaya Hirashima ◽

Daichi Nozaki

Keyword(s):

Prediction Error ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Feedback Delay ◽

Sensory Prediction

Download Full-text

Task errors contribute to implicit remapping in sensorimotor adaptation

10.1101/263988 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Li-Ann Leow ◽

Welber Marinovic ◽

Aymar de Rugy ◽

Timothy J Carroll

Keyword(s):

Sensory Feedback ◽

Hand Position ◽

Sensorimotor Adaptation ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Reward Prediction ◽

Strategic Processes ◽

The Relationship ◽

Sensory Prediction ◽

Or Task

AbstractPerturbations of sensory feedback evoke sensory prediction errors (discrepancies between predicted and actual sensory outcomes of movements), and reward prediction errors (discrepancies between predicted rewards and actual rewards). Sensory prediction errors result in obligatory remapping of the relationship between motor commands and predicted sensory outcomes. The role of reward prediction errors in sensorimotor adaptation is less clear. When moving towards a target, we expect to obtain the reward of hitting the target, and so we experience a reward prediction error if the perturbation causes us to miss it. These discrepancies between desired task outcomes and actual task outcomes, or “task errors”, are thought to drive the use of strategic processes to restore success, although their role is not fully understood. Here, we investigated the role of task errors in sensorimotor adaptation: during target-reaching, we either removed task errors by moving the target mid-movement to align with cursor feedback of hand position, or enforced task error by moving the target away from the cursor feedback of hand position. Removing task errors not only reduced the rate and extent of adaptation during exposure to the perturbation, but also reduced the amount of post-adaptation implicit remapping. Hence, task errors contribute to implicit remapping resulting from sensory prediction errors. This suggests that the system which implicitly acquires new sensorimotor maps via exposure to sensory prediction errors is also sensitive to reward prediction errors.

Download Full-text

Can patients with cerebellar disease switch learning mechanisms to reduce their adaptation deficits?

10.1101/386466 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aaron L. Wong ◽

Cherie L. Marvel ◽

Jordan A. Taylor ◽

John W. Krakauer

Keyword(s):

Spinocerebellar Ataxia ◽

Prediction Error ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Cerebellar Degeneration ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

Visuomotor Rotation ◽

Age Related ◽

Sensory Prediction

ABSTRACTSystematic perturbations in motor adaptation tasks are primarily countered by learning from sensory-prediction errors, with secondary contributions from other learning processes. Despite the availability of these additional processes, particularly the use of explicit re-aiming to counteract observed target errors, patients with cerebellar degeneration are surprisingly unable to compensate for their sensory-prediction-error deficits by spontaneously switching to another learning mechanism. We hypothesized that if the nature of the task was changed – by allowing vision of the hand, which eliminates sensory-prediction errors – patients could be induced to preferentially adopt aiming strategies to solve visuomotor rotations. To test this, we first developed a novel visuomotor rotation paradigm that provides participants with vision of their hand in addition to the cursor, effectively setting the sensory-prediction-error signal to zero. We demonstrated in younger healthy controls that this promotes a switch to strategic re-aiming based on target errors. We then showed that with vision of the hand, patients with spinocerebellar ataxia could also switch to an aiming strategy in response to visuomotor rotations, performing similarly to age-matched participants (older controls). Moreover, patients could retrieve their learned aiming solution after vision of the hand was removed, and retain it for at least one year. Both patients and older controls, however, exhibited impaired overall adaptation performance compared to younger healthy controls (age, 18-33), likely due to age-related reductions in spatial and working memory. Moreover, patients failed to generalize, i.e., they were unable to adopt analogous aiming strategies in response to novel rotations, nor could they further improve their performance without vision of the hand. Hence, there appears to be an inescapable obligatory dependence on sensory-prediction-error-based learning – even when this system is impaired in patients with cerebellar degeneration. The persistence of sensory-prediction-error-based learning effectively suppresses a switch to target-error-based learning, which perhaps explains the unexpectedly poor performance by patients with spinocerebellar ataxia in visuomotor adaptation tasks.

Download Full-text

Mini-review: The Role of the Cerebellum in Visuomotor Adaptation

The Cerebellum ◽

10.1007/s12311-021-01281-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elinor Tzvi ◽

Sebastian Loens ◽

Opher Donchin

Keyword(s):

Premotor Cortex ◽

Motor Program ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Prediction Errors ◽

Visuomotor Rotation ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Behavioral Studies ◽

Sensory Prediction ◽

The Brain

AbstractThe incredible capability of the brain to quickly alter performance in response to ever-changing environment is rooted in the process of adaptation. The core aspect of adaptation is to fit an existing motor program to altered conditions. Adaptation to a visuomotor rotation or an external force has been well established as tools to study the mechanisms underlying sensorimotor adaptation. In this mini-review, we summarize recent findings from the field of visuomotor adaptation. We focus on the idea that the cerebellum plays a central role in the process of visuomotor adaptation and that interactions with cortical structures, in particular, the premotor cortex and the parietal cortex, may be crucial for this process. To this end, we cover a range of methodologies used in the literature that link cerebellar functions and visuomotor adaptation; behavioral studies in cerebellar lesion patients, neuroimaging and non-invasive stimulation approaches. The mini-review is organized as follows: first, we provide evidence that sensory prediction errors (SPE) in visuomotor adaptation rely on the cerebellum based on behavioral studies in cerebellar patients. Second, we summarize structural and functional imaging studies that provide insight into spatial localization as well as visuomotor adaptation dynamics in the cerebellum. Third, we discuss premotor — cerebellar interactions and how these may underlie visuomotor adaptation. And finally, we provide evidence from transcranial direct current and magnetic stimulation studies that link cerebellar activity, beyond correlational relationships, to visuomotor adaptation .

Download Full-text

Altered Dynamics of Cortical Beta-Oscillations during Motor Learning in Cerebellar Ataxia

10.1101/2020.10.06.328807 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jana Klimpke ◽

Dorothea Henkel ◽

Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽

Max-Philipp Stenner

Keyword(s):

Motor Learning ◽

Implicit Learning ◽

Cerebellar Ataxia ◽

Prediction Error ◽

Cognitive Strategies ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Beta Oscillations ◽

Sensory Prediction

AbstractCerebellar ataxia is associated with an implicit motor learning dysfunction, specifically, a miscalibration of internal models relating motor commands to state changes of the body. Explicit cognitive strategies could compensate for deficits in implicit calibration. Surprisingly, however, patients with cerebellar ataxia use insufficient strategies compared to healthy controls. We report a candidate physiological phenomenon of disrupted strategy use in cerebellar ataxia, reflected in an interaction of implicit and explicit learning effects on cortical beta oscillations. We recorded electroencephalography in patients with cerebellar ataxia (n=18), age-matched healthy controls (n=19), and young, healthy individuals (n=34) during a visuomotor rotation paradigm in which an aiming strategy was either explicitly instructed, or had to be discovered through learning. In young, healthy individuals, learning a strategy, but not implicit learning from sensory prediction error alone, decreased the post-movement beta rebound. Disrupted learning from sensory prediction error in patients, on the other hand, unmasked effects of explicit and implicit control that are normally balanced. Specifically, the post-movement beta rebound increased during strategy use when implicit learning was disrupted, i.e., in patients, but not controls. We conclude that a network disturbance due to cerebellar degeneration surfaces in imbalanced cortical beta oscillations normally involved in strategy learning.

Download Full-text