The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation

In motor tasks, errors between planned and actual movements generally result in adaptive changes which reduce the occurrence of similar errors in the future. It has commonly been assumed that the motor adaptation arising from an error occurring on a particular movement is specifically associated wit...

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Main Authors: Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas, Monsen, Craig Bryant, Smith, Maurice A.
Other Authors: Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Public Library of Science 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66139
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author Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas
Monsen, Craig Bryant
Smith, Maurice A.
author2 Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
author_facet Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas
Monsen, Craig Bryant
Smith, Maurice A.
author_sort Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas
collection MIT
description In motor tasks, errors between planned and actual movements generally result in adaptive changes which reduce the occurrence of similar errors in the future. It has commonly been assumed that the motor adaptation arising from an error occurring on a particular movement is specifically associated with the motion that was planned. Here we show that this is not the case. Instead, we demonstrate the binding of the adaptation arising from an error on a particular trial to the motion experienced on that same trial. The formation of this association means that future movements planned to resemble the motion experienced on a given trial benefit maximally from the adaptation arising from it. This reflects the idea that actual rather than planned motions are assigned ‘credit’ for motor errors because, in a computational sense, the maximal adaptive response would be associated with the condition credited with the error. We studied this process by examining the patterns of generalization associated with motor adaptation to novel dynamic environments during reaching arm movements in humans. We found that these patterns consistently matched those predicted by adaptation associated with the actual rather than the planned motion, with maximal generalization observed where actual motions were clustered. We followed up these findings by showing that a novel training procedure designed to leverage this newfound understanding of the binding of learning to action, can improve adaptation rates by greater than 50%. Our results provide a mechanistic framework for understanding the effects of partial assistance and error augmentation during neurologic rehabilitation, and they suggest ways to optimize their use.
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spelling mit-1721.1/661392022-09-27T21:29:16Z The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas Monsen, Craig Bryant Smith, Maurice A. Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas In motor tasks, errors between planned and actual movements generally result in adaptive changes which reduce the occurrence of similar errors in the future. It has commonly been assumed that the motor adaptation arising from an error occurring on a particular movement is specifically associated with the motion that was planned. Here we show that this is not the case. Instead, we demonstrate the binding of the adaptation arising from an error on a particular trial to the motion experienced on that same trial. The formation of this association means that future movements planned to resemble the motion experienced on a given trial benefit maximally from the adaptation arising from it. This reflects the idea that actual rather than planned motions are assigned ‘credit’ for motor errors because, in a computational sense, the maximal adaptive response would be associated with the condition credited with the error. We studied this process by examining the patterns of generalization associated with motor adaptation to novel dynamic environments during reaching arm movements in humans. We found that these patterns consistently matched those predicted by adaptation associated with the actual rather than the planned motion, with maximal generalization observed where actual motions were clustered. We followed up these findings by showing that a novel training procedure designed to leverage this newfound understanding of the binding of learning to action, can improve adaptation rates by greater than 50%. Our results provide a mechanistic framework for understanding the effects of partial assistance and error augmentation during neurologic rehabilitation, and they suggest ways to optimize their use. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience 2011-09-30T16:00:01Z 2011-09-30T16:00:01Z 2011-06 2010-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1553-7358 1553-734X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66139 Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas, Craig Bryant Monsen, and Maurice A. Smith. “The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation.” Ed. Jörn Diedrichsen. PLoS Computational Biology 7 (2011): e1002052. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002052 PLoS Computational Biology Creative Commons Attribution http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ application/pdf Public Library of Science PLoS
spellingShingle Gonzalez Castro, Luis Nicolas
Monsen, Craig Bryant
Smith, Maurice A.
The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title_full The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title_fullStr The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title_full_unstemmed The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title_short The Binding of Learning to Action in Motor Adaptation
title_sort binding of learning to action in motor adaptation
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66139
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