Motor Learning

motor learning

ability to acquire and maintain skilled action

what stage of movement does motor learning act on

action selection, movement planning, movement execution

stages of motor learning

cognitive → associative → autonomous

characteristics of cognitive stage of motor learning

acquisition of new info about a task, rapid gains in performance, high working memory demands

characteristics of associative stage of motor learning

practicing and putting the components together, slower gains and more adjustments

characteristics of autonomous stage of motor learning

requires little cognitive resources and allows them to be allocated to other things

motor learning curve

exponential at first then plateaus over time

acquisition

first day of motor learning, period of practice and experience

retention

ability to perform the same recently learned task (beginning of day 2)

steps of motor learning

acquisition → consolidation → retention

consolidation

transition from short to long term memory

signatures of retention

lack of interference, offline gains, savings, transfer/generalization

offline gains

improvement compared to the end of the last session after a period of rest

savings

faster re-learning of a task from one session to another

three types of motor learning

recalibration, skill learning, sequence learning

recalibration

sensorimotor adaptation for movements we have already learned

when does recalibration occur

prediction does not match the sensory feedback (sensory prediction error)

part of the brain that controls recalibration

cerebellum

what stage of movement does recalibration act on

movement planning and execution

characteristics of skill learning

de novo, learning a novel controller, requires longer period of practice, happens via trial-and-error

what part of the brain controls skill learning

no exact location

what stage of movement does skill learning act on

movement planning an execution

characteristics of sequence learning

organizing already known actions in a temporal order, implicit and explicit, chunks parts of the sequence together

part of the brain that controls sequence learning

cerebellum, basal ganglia, frontal areas, hippocampus

what stage of learning does sequence learning act on

action selection

neural processes involved in implicit learning

use-dependent learning, recalibration

neural processes involved in explicit learning

exploration, calculation, habitual responding

characteristics of use dependent learning

change in movement achieved by simple repetition, not under conscious control, lasts longer than recalibration

part of the brain responsible for use dependent learning

motor cortex

part of brain involved in explicit motor learning

prefrontal cortex

exploration

process of trying different actions and observing the outcome (trial-and-error)

calculation

calculating how much to change a movement

why are errors important in motor learning

it allows the learner to practice without a teacher and problem solve independently

considerations for what type of motor learning should be used

movement goal to be accomplished, movement variability, cognitive ability

parameters for practice in motor learning

amount, schedule, type, variability

massed practice schedule

less rest, more reps

distributed practice schedule

more rest, less reps

pros/cons of distributed practice

more rest time means more time for consolidation but less time for reps

when is whole practice preferred over part practice

if the movement is continuous

pros and cons of constant/blocked practice

good acquisition but poor retention and transfer

pros and cons of variable/random practice

poor acquisition but good retention and transfer

why is extrinsic feedback not always good

it encourages dependence and pt may not learn to problem solve

types of extrinsic feedback

knowledge of performance, knowledge of results

knowledge of performance

details of specific movement parameters (speed, joint angle, force)

knowledge of results

ultimate outcome of movement

types of timing of feedback

immediate/concurrent, summary, faded

how difficult should a task be

70% success rate