Motor Learning (unit 1)

what is motor control

the study of the nature and control of movement

- movement already acquired

what is motor learning

the study of the acquisition and or modifications of skilled action

- search for task solutions

- emerge from the interaction of the individual, the task, and environment

- traditionally the study of acquisition or modification of movements in normal subjects (based on motor outcomes)

what is recovery of function

reacquisition of movement skills lost through injury

- ex. golfing (assuming improvement)

- ex. recovery of function (stairs)

what are the 4 main concepts of motor learning

- learning = acquiring the capability for skilled action

- learning results from experience or practice

- cannot be measured directly, must be inferred from behavior

- produces relatively permanent changes

learning = what type of change

- permanet

> when patient is able to perform a movement strategy over time

> cary over effect

performance = what type of change

- temporary change

> improve during a single treatment measure

> no cary over effects

what is included in non declarative (implicit) memory

- non associative

- associative

- procedural learning

what is non associative of non declarative (implicit) memory

- habituation

- sensitization

what is associative of non declarative (implicit) memory

classical and operant conditioning

what is procedural learning of non declarative (implicit) memory

tasks and habits

- ex driving

what is habituation

decrease in the responsiveness that occurs as a result of repeated exposure to a non painful stimulus

what is sensitization

increase in responsiveness following a threatening or noxious stimulus

what is classical conditioning

- learning to pair 2 stimulus

- initial weak stimulus (conditioned stimulus) becomes more effective in producing a response when it is associated with another, strong, stimulus (unconditioned stimulus)

what is operant conditioning

Associate a response with a consequence (does not have to be negative = just means outcome) (trial and error)

what is law of effect of operant conditioning

behaviors that are rewarded tend to be repeated at the cost of other behaviors. Behaviors followed by aversive stimuli are not usually repeated

learning tasks that can be performed automatically without attention or conscious thought develop through

- repetition

- does not require higher level cognitive processes

during motor skill acquisition repeating ?

movements under varying circumstances would typically lead to procedural learning

- automatically learn the movement, or the rules for moving = movement schema

declarative or explicit learning requires

awareness, attention, reflection

- can help patients reacquire functional skills

what are the 4 types of declarative or explicit learning

- encoding (attending to task and associating with information in memory)

- consolidation (making info stable for long term memory storage)

- storage (long term retention of memories)

- retrieval (recall info from different long term storage sites)

What is Schmidt's Schema Theory?

- similar to motor programing and uses an open loop concept (motor programs do not contain the specifics of movements, but instead contain generalized rules for a specific class of movements)

- when learning a new motor program, the individual learns a generalized set of rules that can be applied to a variety of context

what is a schema

abstract representation stored in memory following a multiple presentations of a class objects

schmidt's schema after movement

- an initial movement conditions, such as the position of the body and the weight of the object manipulated

- the parameters used in the generalized motor program

- the outcome of the movement, in terms of knowledge of results

- the sensory consequences of the movement - that is how it felt, looked and sounded

information is stored in short term memory only long enough to be abstracted into two schemas

- recall schema (motor)

- recognition schema (sensory)

what is recall schema

- response selection

- initial conditions and desired goal are input into the recall schema (lift light vs heavy object)

- repeated movements with different parameters result in different outcomes (NS creates a relationship between the size of the parmeter and the movement outcomes

what is recognition schema

- used to evaluate the response (sensory input and outcomes from similar movements are compared to expected sensory information)

- when movement in complete, the errors in the movements are fed back into the schema, and the schema is modified

what are the assumptions of recall and recognition schema

variability of practice should improve motor learning

what are the predictions of recall and recognition schema

- increased variability of practice = improved generalized motor programs

- movement may be produced accurately, even if it has never been made before, assuming similar rules of the task

what are the implications of schmidt theory

- practicing a task under different conditions will enhance motor learning

- ie develop appropriate recall and recognition schema

what are the limitations of schmidts theory

- Prediction of schema theory = when practicing a skill, variable forms of practice will produce the most effective schema or motor program

- Lacks specificity (Recall MC and task-oriented theories)

- Few recognizable mechanisms can be tested

- Remains unclear how schema processing interacts with other systems during motor learning and how that impacts movement

roles of perceptual information in ecological theory

- Prescriptive: relates to the understanding of the goal (ie goal of the task) and the movements learned

- Feedback: both during movement (knowledge of performance) and completion of movement (knowledge of results)

- used to structure search for the perceptual / motor solution appropriate for the task

what are the clinical implications of the ecological theory

- patient needs to learn to recognize the relevant perceptual cues that will dictate how they perform the task

what are the limitations of the ecological theory

- new theory, thus not yet applied in a systemic way / tested

fits and posner's 3 stage module

- motor learning is divided into 3 stages

> cognitive

> associative

> autonomous

what is the cognitive stage of fits and posner's

- many error (unsure how to correct errors)

- variable performance

- guidance is helpful

- may have large increases in performance

what is the associative stage of fits and posner's

- select the best strategy and refines skill

- behaviors

> less guidance

> less variable

> more accurate

what is the autonomous stage of fits and posner's

- full and complete error detection

- less attention paid to the task

- stable performance

- can be performed in a highly variable and or noisy environment

what is fits and posner

- Studies have supported the hypothesis that during later stages of motor learning, as a motor skill becomes more automated, it requires less attentional resources.

- Paying too much attention to the elements of the task may reduce performance (ex. golfing)

clinical implications of fits and posner

- When first learning a new skill, the task would require a great deal of attention and conscious thought (a lot of errors as one experiments with movement strategies)

- Movements then become more refined as optimal strategy is developed

- When the task is automatic, the person can carry it out successfully while completing other tasks

what is the systems 3 stage model

Emphasis shives to controlling degrees of freedom in the body segments involved in the movement

what are the 3 stages in the systems 3 stage model

- novice

- advanced

- expert

what is the novice stage of the systems 3 stage model

- Degrees of freedom of the body are constrained to make the task easier

- Movement is not energy efficient due to co-contraction.

- Unable to deal with environmental changes

what is the advanced stage of the systems 3 stage model

- Releases additional degrees of freedom, by allowing movements of more joints.

- Joints are more independently controlled.

- Co-contractions are replaced by synergies

what is the expert stage of the systems 3 stage model

- Uses all degrees of freedom necessary to perform the task.

- The movements are energy efficient, and coordinated

what are the clinical implications of the systems 3 stage model

- Explanation of the presence of coactivation of muscles during early stages of acquiring a motor skill

- Use of developmental stages in rehabilitation

- Importance of providing external support during early phases

what is gentiles two stage model

- stage 1 - what is required for movement

- stage 2 - fixation/diversification stage

what is stage one of gentiles two stage model

- what is required for movement

> goal of the learner is to understand the dynamics of the task (learn to distinguish the regulator and non regulatory features)

what is stage two of gentiles two stage model

- fixation/diversification stage

> closed = minimal environmental variation, consistent movement pattern, low variability

> open = changing environment, requires movement diversification

> learner needs to adapt the movement to changing demands (task and environment)

what is practice levels of motor learning

- arguably the most important factor for retraining motor skills is the amount of practice

- ex.

> practice in sessions

> practice extending beyond therapy

> in home HEP

> training after discharge

what is massed practice

- practice time -> rest between practice trials

- fatigue

what is distributed practice

- rest between practice trials -> practice time

- issues (time constraints)

fatigue management

- may mask original learning effects

- intersperse activities that have different physical demands

- monitor cardiac stress indicators

- fatigue can result from both physical demands and from effort on concentrating on a task

constant vs variable practice

- generally more variability = increased ability to adapt and more generalized learning

- Using variable practice may be the most essential when learning tasks that are likely to be performed in variable conditions

- Tasks that require minimal variation and will be performed in constant conditions may best be practiced in constant conditions

whole vs part training

- Tasks are broken down into smaller components performed in sequence, and each component are mastered individually

- Discrete Movement: has a beginning and end

- Serial Movement: series of discrete movements strung together

- Continuous movement: no recognizable beginning or end

what is blocked practice

- same condition for a block of trials, then switch to new block/conditions

- Performance improves rapidly

what is random practice

- all conditions are practiced in random order

- Skills may translate to many situations

- May be difficult for those with cognitive impairments

what is feedback

- essential for learning to take place

- all sensory info available as a result of a movement that a person has produced

what is intrinsic feedback

- response feedback

- sensory systems

what is extrinsic feedback

- augmented feedback, feedback from external sources

- can be concurrent, terminal and supplements intrinsic feedback

knowledge of results (KR)

- terminal feedback about the outcome of the movement (in reference to the movement goals)

- ex. direction (feet are to apart, your stance time has improved 10%) magnitude (off by 1 inch, completed in 6 seconds)

- KR = missed the goal

knowledge of performance (KP)

- feedback relating to the movement pattern used to achieve the goal

- feedback on how the movement is achieved

knowledge of result types

- summary or averaged KR (at the end of blocks of trial)

- faded KR (gradually reducing frequency of KR)

- bandwidth KR or tolerance of error (Only provide KR when a certain level of error is achieved otherwise individual assumes other trials are successful)

timing for feedback

- summary feedback is more effective for retention than feedback on every trial

- During the acquisition phase, give feedback more frequently for better retention

- More complex the task, the sooner the summary feedback should be given

precision is important for feedback

- "your foot needs to move forward"

- Vs

- "the heel of your front food should be at least an inch ahead of your back foot" (Don't give to generic feedback)

what is transfer

- How much transfers from all of this training?

- Critical aspect = neural processing demands

- Supports practicing tasks under a range of conditions that will mimic the home/community environment

recovery of function (function)

- recovery of skilled action

recovery of function (two types of recovery) (restitution)

achieving a functional goal / performing a task in the same way it was performed before injury, using the same processes as prior to injury à you can achieve the goal but under different means

recovery of function (two types of recovery) (adaptation)

ability to achieve task goals using effective and efficient means, but not necessarily the same process used before injury

guidance vs discovery learning (guidance)

- Guidance should be limited to the acquisition stage (ie initial learning stages)

- Should be replaced with discovery learning, so patient "can explore the perceptual motor workspace" associated with learning the tasks

> ex. Reach and grasp task with paretic arm. Initially: guide through the task, allowing for success. Move to trial and error discovery phase with failure and then a range of reaching tasks.

guidance vs discovery learning (discovery learning)

allows you to lean task on your own which means you actually learned it