scholarly journals Unilateral Sensorimotor Cortex Lesions in Adult Rats Facilitate Motor Skill Learning with the “Unaffected” Forelimb and Training-Induced Dendritic Structural Plasticity in the Motor Cortex

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (19) ◽  
pp. 8597-8606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Bury ◽  
Theresa A. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Structural Plasticity ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
And Training

Functional Reorganization of the Rat Motor Cortex Following Motor Skill Learning

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
pp. 3321-3325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Kleim ◽  
Scott Barbay ◽  
Randolph J. Nudo
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Reaching Task ◽  
Functional Reorganization ◽  
Skilled Reaching

Kleim, Jeffrey A., Scott Barbay, and Randolph J. Nudo. Functional reorganization of the rat motor cortex following motor skill learning. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 3321–3325, 1998. Adult rats were allocated to either a skilled or unskilled reaching condition (SRC and URC, respectively). SRC animals were trained for 10 days on a skilled reaching task while URC animals were trained on a simple bar pressing task. After training, microelectrode stimulation was used to derive high resolution maps of the forelimb and hindlimb representations within the motor cortex. In comparison with URC animals, SRC animals exhibited a significant increase in mean area of the wrist and digit representations but a decrease in elbow/shoulder representation within the caudal forelimb area. No between-group differences in areal representation were found in either the hindlimb or rostral forelimb areas. These results demonstrate that motor skill learning is associated with a reorganization of movement representations within the rodent motor cortex.

scholarly journals Somatosensory changes associated with motor skill learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 1052-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmine L. Mirdamadi ◽  
Hannah J. Block
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Motor Adaptation ◽  
Short Latency ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Short Latency Afferent Inhibition ◽  
Afferent Inhibition ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Somatosensory Function

Trial-and-error motor adaptation has been linked to somatosensory plasticity and shifts in proprioception (limb position sense). The role of sensory processing in motor skill learning is less understood. Unlike adaptation, skill learning involves the acquisition of new movement patterns in the absence of perturbation, with performance limited by the speed-accuracy trade-off. We investigated somatosensory changes during motor skill learning at the behavioral and neurophysiological levels. Twenty-eight healthy young adults practiced a maze-tracing task, guiding a robotic manipulandum through an irregular two-dimensional track featuring several abrupt turns. Practice occurred on days 1 and 2. Skill was assessed before practice on day 1 and again on day 3, with learning indicated by a shift in the speed-accuracy function between these assessments. Proprioceptive function was quantified with a passive two-alternative forced-choice task. In a subset of 15 participants, we measured short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) to index somatosensory projections to motor cortex. We found that motor practice enhanced the speed-accuracy skill function ( F4,108 = 32.15, P < 0.001) and was associated with improved proprioceptive sensitivity at retention ( t22 = 24.75, P = 0.0031). Furthermore, SAI increased after training ( F1,14 = 5.41, P = 0.036). Interestingly, individuals with larger increases in SAI, reflecting enhanced somatosensory afference to motor cortex, demonstrated larger improvements in motor skill learning. These findings suggest that SAI may be an important functional mechanism for some aspect of motor skill learning. Further research is needed to test what parameters (task complexity, practice time, etc.) are specifically linked to somatosensory function. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Somatosensory processing has been implicated in motor adaptation, where performance recovers from a perturbation such as a force field. We investigated somatosensory function during motor skill learning, where a new motor pattern is acquired in the absence of perturbation. After skill practice, we found changes in proprioception and short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI), signifying somatosensory change at both the behavioral and neurophysiological levels. SAI may be an important functional mechanism by which individuals learn motor skills.

scholarly journals Sensorimotor cortex beta oscillations reflect motor skill learning ability after stroke

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Svenja Espenhahn ◽  
Holly E Rossiter ◽  
Bernadette C M van Wijk ◽  
Nell Redman ◽  
Jane M Rondina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Beta Oscillations ◽  
And Performance

Abstract Recovery of skilled movement after stroke is assumed to depend on motor learning. However, the capacity for motor learning and factors that influence motor learning after stroke have received little attention. In this study, we first compared motor skill acquisition and retention between well-recovered stroke patients and age- and performance-matched healthy controls. We then tested whether beta oscillations (15–30 Hz) from sensorimotor cortices contribute to predicting training-related motor performance. Eighteen well-recovered chronic stroke survivors (mean age 64 ± 8 years, range: 50–74 years) and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were trained on a continuous tracking task and subsequently retested after initial training (45–60 min and 24 h later). Scalp electroencephalography was recorded during the performance of a simple motor task before each training and retest session. Stroke patients demonstrated capacity for motor skill learning, but it was diminished compared to age- and performance-matched healthy controls. Furthermore, although the properties of beta oscillations prior to training were comparable between stroke patients and healthy controls, stroke patients did show less change in beta measures with motor learning. Lastly, although beta oscillations did not help to predict motor performance immediately after training, contralateral (ipsilesional) sensorimotor cortex post-movement beta rebound measured after training helped predict future motor performance, 24 h after training. This finding suggests that neurophysiological measures such as beta oscillations can help predict response to motor training in chronic stroke patients and may offer novel targets for therapeutic interventions.

scholarly journals MeCP2 deletion impaired layer 2/3-dominant dynamic reorganization of cortical circuit during motor skill learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanlei Yue ◽  
Pan Xu ◽  
Zhichao Liu ◽  
Zekai Chen ◽  
Juntao Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Rett Syndrome ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Procedural Learning ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Motor Skill Learning ◽  
Layer 2 ◽  
Cortical Circuit ◽  
Circuit Reorganization

AbstractMotor cortex displays remarkable plasticity during motor learning. However, it remains largely unknown how the highly dynamic motor cortical circuit reorganizes during reward-independent procedural learning at the populational level. Machine learning-based analysis of the neuronal events recorded with in vivo two-photon calcium imaging revealed procedural learning-induced circuit reorganization in superficial but not deep layers of the motor cortex while mice learned to run on a speed-controlled treadmill. Mice lacking Methyl-CpG-binding protein (MeCP2), an animal model for Rett Syndrome, exhibited impaired both procedural learning and dynamic circuit reorganization in layer 2/3, but not layer 5a. These results identify potential circuit mechanisms underlying motor skill learning disability caused by MeCP2 deletion and provide insight in developing therapies for Rett syndrome.

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