Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development
Motor variability is a fundamental feature of developing systems allowing motor exploration and learning. In human infants, leg movements involve a small number of basic coordination patterns called locomotor primitives, but whether and when motor variability could emerge from these primitives remai...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2023-07-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/87463 |
| _version_ | 1797768707326345216 |
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| author | Elodie Hinnekens Marianne Barbu-Roth Manh-Cuong Do Bastien Berret Caroline Teulier |
| author_facet | Elodie Hinnekens Marianne Barbu-Roth Manh-Cuong Do Bastien Berret Caroline Teulier |
| author_sort | Elodie Hinnekens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Motor variability is a fundamental feature of developing systems allowing motor exploration and learning. In human infants, leg movements involve a small number of basic coordination patterns called locomotor primitives, but whether and when motor variability could emerge from these primitives remains unknown. Here we longitudinally followed 18 infants on 2–3 time points between birth (~4 days old) and walking onset (~14 months old) and recorded the activity of their leg muscles during locomotor or rhythmic movements. Using unsupervised machine learning, we show that the structure of trial-to-trial variability changes during early development. In the neonatal period, infants own a minimal number of motor primitives but generate a maximal motor variability across trials thanks to variable activations of these primitives. A few months later, toddlers generate significantly less variability despite the existence of more primitives due to more regularity within their activation. These results suggest that human neonates initiate motor exploration as soon as birth by variably activating a few basic locomotor primitives that later fraction and become more consistently activated by the motor system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:57:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-897825b3643d462c8bba7c5aaa07db08 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:57:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-897825b3643d462c8bba7c5aaa07db082023-07-31T14:52:37ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2023-07-011210.7554/eLife.87463Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor developmentElodie Hinnekens0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0649-0779Marianne Barbu-Roth1Manh-Cuong Do2Bastien Berret3Caroline Teulier4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4400-783XUniversité Paris-Saclay, CIAMS, Orsay, France; Université d'Orléans, CIAMS, Orléans, FranceUniversité de Paris, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, Paris, FranceUniversité Paris-Saclay, CIAMS, Orsay, France; Université d'Orléans, CIAMS, Orléans, FranceUniversité Paris-Saclay, CIAMS, Orsay, France; Université d'Orléans, CIAMS, Orléans, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, FranceUniversité Paris-Saclay, CIAMS, Orsay, France; Université d'Orléans, CIAMS, Orléans, FranceMotor variability is a fundamental feature of developing systems allowing motor exploration and learning. In human infants, leg movements involve a small number of basic coordination patterns called locomotor primitives, but whether and when motor variability could emerge from these primitives remains unknown. Here we longitudinally followed 18 infants on 2–3 time points between birth (~4 days old) and walking onset (~14 months old) and recorded the activity of their leg muscles during locomotor or rhythmic movements. Using unsupervised machine learning, we show that the structure of trial-to-trial variability changes during early development. In the neonatal period, infants own a minimal number of motor primitives but generate a maximal motor variability across trials thanks to variable activations of these primitives. A few months later, toddlers generate significantly less variability despite the existence of more primitives due to more regularity within their activation. These results suggest that human neonates initiate motor exploration as soon as birth by variably activating a few basic locomotor primitives that later fraction and become more consistently activated by the motor system.https://elifesciences.org/articles/87463motor primitivestrial-to-trial variabilitylocomotor developmentmuscle synergiesmodularityinfancy |
| spellingShingle | Elodie Hinnekens Marianne Barbu-Roth Manh-Cuong Do Bastien Berret Caroline Teulier Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development eLife motor primitives trial-to-trial variability locomotor development muscle synergies modularity infancy |
| title | Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| title_full | Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| title_fullStr | Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| title_short | Generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| title_sort | generating variability from motor primitives during infant locomotor development |
| topic | motor primitives trial-to-trial variability locomotor development muscle synergies modularity infancy |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/87463 |
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