Dataset Information

Intermanual transfer and retention of visuomotor adaptation to a large visuomotor distortion are driven by explicit processes.

ABSTRACT: Reaching with a visuomotor distortion in a virtual environment leads to reach adaptation in the trained hand, and in the untrained hand. In the current study we asked if reach adaptation in the untrained (right) hand is due to transfer of explicit adaptation (EA; strategic changes in reaches) and/or implicit adaptation (IA; unconscious changes in reaches) from the trained (left) hand, and if this transfer changes depending on instructions provided. We further asked if EA and IA are retained in both the trained and untrained hands. Participants (n = 60) were divided into 3 groups (Instructed (provided with instructions on how to counteract the visuomotor distortion), Non-Instructed (no instructions provided), and Control (EA not assessed)). EA and IA were assessed in both the trained and untrained hands immediately following rotated reach training with a 40° visuomotor distortion, and again 24 hours later by having participants reach in the absence of cursor feedback. Participants were to reach (1) so that the cursor landed on the target (EA + IA), and (2) so that their hand landed on the target (IA). Results revealed that, while initial EA observed in the trained hand was greater for the Instructed versus Non-Instructed group, the full extent of EA transferred between hands for both groups and was retained across days. IA observed in the trained hand was greatest in the Non-Instructed group. However, IA did not significantly transfer between hands for any of the three groups. Limited retention of IA was observed in the trained hand. Together, these results suggest that while initial EA and IA in the trained hand are dependent on instructions provided, transfer and retention of visuomotor adaptation to a large visuomotor distortion are driven almost exclusively by EA.

SUBMITTER: Bouchard JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7799748 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Intermanual transfer and retention of visuomotor adaptation to a large visuomotor distortion are driven by explicit processes.

Bouchard Jean-Michel JM Cressman Erin K EK

PloS one 20210111 1

Reaching with a visuomotor distortion in a virtual environment leads to reach adaptation in the trained hand, and in the untrained hand. In the current study we asked if reach adaptation in the untrained (right) hand is due to transfer of explicit adaptation (EA; strategic changes in reaches) and/or implicit adaptation (IA; unconscious changes in reaches) from the trained (left) hand, and if this transfer changes depending on instructions provided. We further asked if EA and IA are retained in b ...[more]

PMID: 33428665

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Project description:BackgroundComplex motor tasks in immersive virtual reality using a head-mounted display (HMD-VR) have been shown to increase cognitive load and decrease motor performance compared to conventional computer screens (CS). Separately, visuomotor adaptation in HMD-VR has been shown to recruit more explicit, cognitive strategies, resulting in decreased implicit mechanisms thought to contribute to motor memory formation. However, it is unclear whether visuomotor adaptation in HMD-VR increases cognitive load and whether cognitive load is related to explicit mechanisms and long-term motor memory formation.MethodsWe randomized 36 healthy participants into three equal groups. All groups completed an established visuomotor adaptation task measuring explicit and implicit mechanisms, combined with a dual-task probe measuring cognitive load. Then, all groups returned after 24-h to measure retention of the overall adaptation. One group completed both training and retention tasks in CS (measuring long-term retention in a CS environment), one group completed both training and retention tasks in HMD-VR (measuring long-term retention in an HMD-VR environment), and one group completed the training task in HMD-VR and the retention task in CS (measuring context transfer from an HMD-VR environment). A Generalized Linear Mixed-Effect Model (GLMM) was used to compare cognitive load between CS and HMD-VR during visuomotor adaptation, t-tests were used to compare overall adaptation and explicit and implicit mechanisms between CS and HMD-VR training environments, and ANOVAs were used to compare group differences in long-term retention and context transfer.ResultsCognitive load was found to be greater in HMD-VR than in CS. This increased cognitive load was related to decreased use of explicit, cognitive mechanisms early in adaptation. Moreover, increased cognitive load was also related to decreased long-term motor memory formation. Finally, training in HMD-VR resulted in decreased long-term retention and context transfer.ConclusionsOur findings show that cognitive load increases in HMD-VR and relates to explicit learning and long-term motor memory formation during motor learning. Future studies should examine what factors cause increased cognitive load in HMD-VR motor learning and whether this impacts HMD-VR training and long-term retention in clinical populations.

Project description:Astronauts exposed to microgravity face sensorimotor challenges affecting balance control when readapting to Earth's gravity upon return from spaceflight. Small amounts of electrical noise applied to the vestibular system have been shown to improve balance control during standing and walking under discordant sensory conditions in healthy subjects, likely by enhancing information transfer through the phenomenon of stochastic resonance. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that imperceptible levels of stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) could improve short-term adaptation to a locomotor task in a novel sensory discordant environment. Healthy subjects (14 males, 10 females, age = 28.7 ± 5.3 years, height = 167.2 ± 9.6 cm, weight = 71.0 ± 12.8 kg) were tested for perceptual thresholds to sinusoidal currents applied across the mastoids. Subjects were then randomly and blindly assigned to an SVS group receiving a 0-30 Hz Gaussian white noise electrical stimulus at 50% of their perceptual threshold (stim) or a control group receiving zero stimulation during Functional Mobility Tests (FMTs), nine trials of which were done under conditions of visual discordance (wearing up/down vision reversing goggles). Time to complete the course (TCC) was used to test the effect of SVS between the two groups across the trials. Adaptation rates from the normalized TCCs were also compared utilizing exponent values of power fit trendline equations. A one-tailed independent-samples t-test indicated these adaptation rates were significantly faster in the stim group (n = 12) than the control (n = 12) group [t(16.18) = 2.00, p = 0.031]. When a secondary analysis was performed comparing "responders" (subjects who showed faster adaptation rates) of the stim (n = 7) group to the control group (n = 12), independent-samples t-tests revealed significantly faster trial times for the last five trials with goggles in the stim group "responders" than the controls. The data suggests that SVS may be capable of improving short-term adaptation to a locomotion task done under sensory discordance in a group of responsive subjects.

Dataset Information

Intermanual transfer and retention of visuomotor adaptation to a large visuomotor distortion are driven by explicit processes.

Publications

Intermanual transfer and retention of visuomotor adaptation to a large visuomotor distortion are driven by explicit processes.

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