Dataset Information

Changes in performance monitoring during sensorimotor adaptation.

ABSTRACT: Error detection and correction are essential components of motor skill learning. These processes have been well characterized in cognitive psychology using electroencephalography (EEG) to record an event-related potential (ERP) called error-related negativity (ERN). However, it is unclear whether this ERP component is sensitive to the magnitude of the error made in a sensorimotor adaptation task. In the present study, we tested the function of error-related activity in a visuomotor adaptation task. To examine whether error size is reflected in the ERP, two groups of participants adapted manual aiming movements to either a small (30 degrees) or large (45 degrees) rotation of the visual feedback display. Each participant's trials were sorted into large and small error trials using a median split to examine potential error magnitude waveform differences. We also examined these trial types at the early and late stages of adaptation. There were no group differences for the behavioral or neural measures; however, waveforms from large error trials were significantly different from small error trials. The waveforms also changed as a function of practice as early adaptation waveforms were larger than late adaptation waveforms. The observed ERP component reflected differences in error magnitude with the amount of activity corresponding to the size of the error. Movement monitoring potentials likely affected the frequency and time course of the waveform so that it did not resemble the typical ERN; however, error-related activity was still distinguishable. The present findings are discussed in terms of current theories of the ERN as well as skill acquisition.

SUBMITTER: Anguera JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746769 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Changes in performance monitoring during sensorimotor adaptation.

Anguera Joaquin A JA Seidler Rachael D RD Gehring William J WJ

Journal of neurophysiology 20090715 3

Error detection and correction are essential components of motor skill learning. These processes have been well characterized in cognitive psychology using electroencephalography (EEG) to record an event-related potential (ERP) called error-related negativity (ERN). However, it is unclear whether this ERP component is sensitive to the magnitude of the error made in a sensorimotor adaptation task. In the present study, we tested the function of error-related activity in a visuomotor adaptation ta ...[more]

PMID: 19605614

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Project description:The brain uses information from different sensory systems to guide motor behavior, and aging is associated with simultaneous decline in the quality of sensory information provided to the brain and deterioration in motor control. Correlations between age-dependent decline in sensory anatomical structures and behavior have been demonstrated in many sensorimotor systems, and it has recently been suggested that a Bayesian framework could explain these relationships. Here we show that age-dependent changes in a human sensorimotor reflex, the vestibuloocular reflex, are explained by a Bayesian optimal adaptation in the brain occurring in response to death of motion-sensing hair cells. Specifically, we found that the temporal dynamics of the reflex as a function of age emerge from ( r = 0.93, P < 0.001) a Kalman filter model that determines the optimal behavioral output when the sensory signal-to-noise characteristics are degraded by death of the transducers. These findings demonstrate that the aging brain is capable of generating the ideal and statistically optimal behavioral response when provided with deteriorating sensory information. While the Bayesian framework has been shown to be a general neural principle for multimodal sensory integration and dynamic sensory estimation, these findings provide evidence of longitudinal Bayesian processing over the human life span. These results illuminate how the aging brain strives to optimize motor behavior when faced with deterioration in the peripheral and central nervous systems and have implications in the field of vestibular and balance disorders, as they will likely provide guidance for physical therapy and for prosthetic aids that aim to reduce falls in the elderly. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We showed that age-dependent changes in the vestibuloocular reflex are explained by a Bayesian optimal adaptation in the brain that occurs in response to age-dependent sensory anatomical changes. This demonstrates that the brain can longitudinally respond to age-related sensory loss in an ideal and statistically optimal way. This has implications for understanding and treating vestibular disorders caused by aging and provides insight into the structure-function relationship during aging.

Dataset Information

Changes in performance monitoring during sensorimotor adaptation.

Publications

Changes in performance monitoring during sensorimotor adaptation.

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