Motor Learning

KIN 4571 Final Exam

Adaptation

• the ability to modify motor output in response to changing sensory input

• could be conscious or unconscious

• Ex. throwing with prism goggles on that shifts your vision 30 degrees to the right

Condition-associative

• motor response to conditioned stimulus, pairing stimulus with behavior

• adaptive and automatic

• Ex. Pavlov’s dog salivates to a bell ringing

Condition-nonassociative

• motor response to conditioned stimulus, not pairing stimulus with behavior

• habituation

• sensitization

Habituation

suppression of a response to a stimulus (ex. wearing clothing)

Sensitization

accentuation of a response to a stimulus (ex. pain)

Motor skill learning

formation of new movement sequences to gain speed, precision, accuracy, and/or efficiency

Learning

acquiring a motor skill

Memory

retaining a motor skill

learning and memory

needed to learn motor skills

Early-cognitive phase

• following the concepts and facts, require concentration

• brain stimulation → language centers

cortical control

The early-cognitive phase requires more ________

Intermediate phase

• trial and error, attempt different strategies

• brain stimulation → motor/sensorimotor association areas

feedforward and feedback

updated by motor/sensorimotor association areas to refine motor performance

Late-autonomous phase

• mastery

• brain stimulation → basal ganglia

subcortical control

The late-autonomous phase requires more ________

Broca’s

spoken word (unable to speak with damage)

Wernicke’s

language/speech comprehension

Primary auditory cortex

• located in the temporal lobe, below the lateral fissure

• NOT a part of the language areas but involved with them

Arcuate fasciculus

• connects Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas

• helps monitor what you say (language) and repeat what other people say

• links spoken and comprehension areas

Broca’s area

What is the blue?

Arcuate fasciculus

What is the purple?

Wernicke’s area

What is the red?

Primary auditory cortex

What is the green?

parallel; separate

Declarative and procedural memories are ________ but _________ learning systems

Declarative (semantic) memory

• acquisition of facts and concepts

• involve limbic system (medial temporal areas)

• hippocampus

Hippocampus

involves information storage, but is not the storage site for memory; part of the limbic system

hippocampus

If the _________ is damaged, you will lose the ability to store new memory, but you could recall old memory.

Procedural memory

• learn motor skills and acquire habits

• involves sensorimotor, SMA, PM, cerebellum, parietal regions, prefrontal, and basal ganglia

specific; habit

Declarative memory is _______ while procedural is _________

hippocampus

What is the blue part?

Alzheimer’s

What disease caused the right portion?

increased; decreased

People with Alzheimer’s have _________ ventricle size and _________ cerebral cortex, memory, and language areas.

Sensory afferent information

• important for learning new skills and the adaptability of learned skills

• Examples:

  • animals with legions of dorsal roots (sensory afferents) → impair learning new movements

  • patients with peripheral neuropathy could drive their old care but not new cars → previously learned motor programs are retained, but there is poor adaptability

• the importance of this might differ based on type of learning, sensory modality involved, and stage of learning phase

less

Late autonomous requires _______ sensory feedback

more

Early cognitive phase requires _______ sensory feedback

faster

________ movements = less sensory, more feedforward

slower

________ movements = more sensory, more feedback

Spinal cord

• changes in this structure’s motor neurons have been found in response to up- and/or down-regulation of certain reflexes (learning)

• Down-regulation

• Up-regulation

• H-reflex

Down-regulation

shift away from action potential threshold, making it harder to trigger reflex

Up-regulation

fewer and smaller inhibitory synaptic terminals, making it easier to trigger reflex

H-reflex

the summation of excitatory and inhibitory influences on motor neurons

higher

_________ H-reflex makes it easier to trigger reflex

lower

_________ H-reflex makes it harder to trigger reflex

Cerebellum

• adaptive learning (occurs in multiple sites in nervous system, not just this)

• sequencing for multi-joint movements

Basal ganglia

• putamen

• important for transferring skills into procedural memory and perform pre-learned movement

• motivation of learning

Putamen

important for transferring skills into procedural memory and perform pre-learned movement

Cerebral cortex

primary location for declarative and procedural memory

Includes:

• parietal areas (and thalamus)

• primary motor (MI)

• premotor area

• supplementary motor area (SMA)

• prefrontal areas and some cingulate gyrus

Parietal areas (and thalamus)

integrate sensory information for learning new complex motor task

feedforward

Parietal areas and thalamus updates __________

Primary motor (MI)

• preparation and execution of movement

• encode force and direction

Premotor area

• new movement sequences

• sensory-guided movements

Supplementary motor area (SMA)

pre-learned sequence

Prefrontal areas and some cingulate gyrus

• direct attention and motivational aspects

• more involved in the early-cognitive phase than the late-autonomous phase

prefrontal areas

directs attention

some cingulate gyrus

motivation

Early skill acquisition

• language areas

• parietal areas

• thalamus

Actual performance

• sensorimotor cortex

• SMA

• premotor

• associated parietal areas

• part of the cerebellum

Motor skill acquisition

• increased activity in parts of the basal ganglia and less activity in the cortical association areas

Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity

• forming synapses

• the more you do it, the better you do

• with practice, strengthen synapses which makes the movement easier to perform

Long-term potentiation

• move the baseline closer to the threshold

• the closer, the better

• with practice, strengthen synapses which makes the movement easier to perform

Changes in the excitability of the post synaptic neuron

• associated with long-term potentiation

• greater excitability makes the movement easier to perform

• long-term potentiation needs this since it explains how long-term potentiation works

Growth of new connections

• new pathways for motor learning

• form new connections and pathways

increase

If you _________ the excitability of post synaptic neurons, it will make the movement easier to perform

decrease

If you _________ the excitability of post synaptic neurons, it will make the movement harder to perform

Performance

What is the y-axis?

Error

What is the y-axis?

Early-cognitive phase

• following the concepts and facts

• greater involvement of Wernicke’s area

Intermediate phase

• attempt different strategies

• trial and error

• greater involvement of motor/sensorimotor association areas

Late-autonomous phase

• greater basal ganglia involvement

• more subcortical involvement

language, parietal, thalamus

main structure(s) involved in the early-cognitive phase

premotor

main structure(s) involved in the intermediate phase

basal ganglia

main structure(s) involved in the late-autonomous phase