Adaptation to Novel Sensorimotor Conditions
Mentor 1
Dr. Jinsung Wang
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
28-4-2017 1:30 PM
End Date
28-4-2017 4:00 PM
Description
Adapting to a novel sensory-motor environment while performing a goal-directed movement, which is a type of motor learning, has long been thought to occur implicitly. Recently, however, there has been a debate in the neuroscience literature regarding whether sensorimotor adaptation may involve an explicit learning process as well. The objective of the present study is to determine the extent to which explicit and implicit learning processes overlap during adaptation to a novel visuomotor condition. Neurologically intact young adults were tested under two experimental conditions: an explicit condition, in which they were instructed to perform reaching movements toward a direction that was rotated 30 degrees clockwise relative to the target, and an implicit condition, in which they were instructed to perform reaching movements directly toward the target.In the latter condition, the visual display of reaching movements were rotated 30 degrees counterclockwise about the start position without the subject's awareness. Half of the subjects were tested under the explicit condition first, then under the implicit condition; and the other half were tested under the implicit condition first. It was predicted that if visuomotor adaptation primarily occurs implicitly, initial training under one condition would not facilitate subsequent performance under the other condition. Our preliminary data indicate that under each of the two experimental conditions, all subjects were able to improve their reaching performance substantially. Nonetheless, initial training under one condition did not seem to facilitate subsequent performance under the other condition. These findings suggest that visuomotor adaptation primarily involves an implicit learning process, and also that while visuomotor adaptation may still involve some explicit learning process, it is unlikely that an explicit learning process is a main component of visuomotor adaptation.
Adaptation to Novel Sensorimotor Conditions
Union Wisconsin Room
Adapting to a novel sensory-motor environment while performing a goal-directed movement, which is a type of motor learning, has long been thought to occur implicitly. Recently, however, there has been a debate in the neuroscience literature regarding whether sensorimotor adaptation may involve an explicit learning process as well. The objective of the present study is to determine the extent to which explicit and implicit learning processes overlap during adaptation to a novel visuomotor condition. Neurologically intact young adults were tested under two experimental conditions: an explicit condition, in which they were instructed to perform reaching movements toward a direction that was rotated 30 degrees clockwise relative to the target, and an implicit condition, in which they were instructed to perform reaching movements directly toward the target.In the latter condition, the visual display of reaching movements were rotated 30 degrees counterclockwise about the start position without the subject's awareness. Half of the subjects were tested under the explicit condition first, then under the implicit condition; and the other half were tested under the implicit condition first. It was predicted that if visuomotor adaptation primarily occurs implicitly, initial training under one condition would not facilitate subsequent performance under the other condition. Our preliminary data indicate that under each of the two experimental conditions, all subjects were able to improve their reaching performance substantially. Nonetheless, initial training under one condition did not seem to facilitate subsequent performance under the other condition. These findings suggest that visuomotor adaptation primarily involves an implicit learning process, and also that while visuomotor adaptation may still involve some explicit learning process, it is unlikely that an explicit learning process is a main component of visuomotor adaptation.
