Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition
Learning to sequence movements is necessary for skillful interaction with the environment. Neuroplasticity, particularly long-term potentiation (LTP), within sensorimotor networks underlies the acquisition of motor skill. Short-term immobilization of the arm, even less than 12 hours, can reduce cort...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9565666/?tool=EBI |
| _version_ | 1798030444688572416 |
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| author | Erin M. King Lauren L. Edwards Michael R. Borich |
| author_facet | Erin M. King Lauren L. Edwards Michael R. Borich |
| author_sort | Erin M. King |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Learning to sequence movements is necessary for skillful interaction with the environment. Neuroplasticity, particularly long-term potentiation (LTP), within sensorimotor networks underlies the acquisition of motor skill. Short-term immobilization of the arm, even less than 12 hours, can reduce corticospinal excitability and increase the capacity for LTP-like plasticity within the contralateral primary motor cortex. However, it is still unclear whether short-term immobilization influences motor skill acquisition. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of short-term arm immobilization on implicit, sequence-specific motor skill acquisition using a modified Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT). Twenty young, neurotypical adults underwent a single SRTT training session after six hours of immobilization of the non-dominant arm or an equivalent period of no immobilization. Our results demonstrated that participants improved SRTT performance overall after training, but there was no evidence of an effect of immobilization prior to task training on performance improvement. Further, improvements on the SRTT were not sequence-specific. Taken together, motor skill acquisition for sequential, individuated finger movements improved following training but the effect of six hours of immobilization was difficult to discern. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:40:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3d119de327fc4d199dcb610b28dbb6e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:40:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-3d119de327fc4d199dcb610b28dbb6e52022-12-22T04:06:43ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011710Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisitionErin M. KingLauren L. EdwardsMichael R. BorichLearning to sequence movements is necessary for skillful interaction with the environment. Neuroplasticity, particularly long-term potentiation (LTP), within sensorimotor networks underlies the acquisition of motor skill. Short-term immobilization of the arm, even less than 12 hours, can reduce corticospinal excitability and increase the capacity for LTP-like plasticity within the contralateral primary motor cortex. However, it is still unclear whether short-term immobilization influences motor skill acquisition. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of short-term arm immobilization on implicit, sequence-specific motor skill acquisition using a modified Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT). Twenty young, neurotypical adults underwent a single SRTT training session after six hours of immobilization of the non-dominant arm or an equivalent period of no immobilization. Our results demonstrated that participants improved SRTT performance overall after training, but there was no evidence of an effect of immobilization prior to task training on performance improvement. Further, improvements on the SRTT were not sequence-specific. Taken together, motor skill acquisition for sequential, individuated finger movements improved following training but the effect of six hours of immobilization was difficult to discern.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9565666/?tool=EBI |
| spellingShingle | Erin M. King Lauren L. Edwards Michael R. Borich Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| title_full | Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| title_fullStr | Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| title_short | Effects of short-term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| title_sort | effects of short term arm immobilization on motor skill acquisition |
| url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9565666/?tool=EBI |
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