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Neural substrates of contextual interference during motor learning support a model of active preparation
- Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
, 2007
"... & When individuals acquire new skills, initial performance is typically better and tasks are judged to be easier when the tasks are segregated and practiced by block, compared to when different tasks are randomly intermixed in practice. How-ever, subsequent skill retention is better for a random ..."
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& When individuals acquire new skills, initial performance is typically better and tasks are judged to be easier when the tasks are segregated and practiced by block, compared to when different tasks are randomly intermixed in practice. How-ever, subsequent skill retention is better for a randomly prac-ticed group, an effect known as contextual interference (CI). The present study examined the neural substrates of CI using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Individuals learned a set of three 4-element sequences with the left hand according to a block or random practice schedule. Behavioral retest for skill retention confirmed the presence of a typical CI effect with the random group outperforming the block group. Using a go/no-go fMRI paradigm, sequence preparation during the premovement study period was separated from movement execution. Imaging data for the two groups were compared for the first 1/3 and final 1/3 of training trials. Toward the end of training, behavioral performance between the two groups was similar, although the random group would later display a performance advantage on retention testing. During study time, the random group showed greater activity in sensorimotor and premotor regions compared to the block group. These areas are associated with motor preparation, sequencing, and response selection. This pattern of recruit-ment is consistent with the hypothesis that CI benefits in a sequencing task are due to improved capacity to actively pre-pare motor responses. &
Dynamic network centrality summarizes learning in the human brain
- Journal of Complex Networks
, 2013
"... We study functional activity in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging and recently developed tools from network science. The data arise from the performance of a simple behavioural motor learning task. Unsupervised clustering of subjects with respect to similarity of network a ..."
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We study functional activity in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging and recently developed tools from network science. The data arise from the performance of a simple behavioural motor learning task. Unsupervised clustering of subjects with respect to similarity of network activity measured over 3 days of practice produces significant evidence of 'learning', in the sense that subjects typically move between clusters (of subjects whose dynamics are similar) as time progresses.
Anatomical Substrates of Visual and Auditory Miniature Second-language Learning
"... & Longitudinal changes in brain activity during second lan-guage (L2) acquisition of a miniature finite-state grammar, named Wernickese, were identified with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants learned either a visual sign language form or an auditory-verbal form to equiva ..."
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& Longitudinal changes in brain activity during second lan-guage (L2) acquisition of a miniature finite-state grammar, named Wernickese, were identified with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants learned either a visual sign language form or an auditory-verbal form to equivalent proficiency levels. Brain activity during sentence comprehen-sion while hearing/viewing stimuli was assessed at low, me-dium, and high levels of proficiency in three separate fMRI sessions. Activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) correlated positively with improving L2 proficiency, whereas activity in the right-hemisphere (RH) homologue was negatively correlated for both auditory and visual forms of the language. Activity in sequence learning areas including the premotor cortex and putamen also correlated with L2 proficiency. Modality-specific differences in the blood oxygen-ation level-dependent signal accompanying L2 acquisition were localized to the planum temporale (PT). Participants learning the auditory form exhibited decreasing reliance on bilateral PT sites across sessions. In the visual form, bilateral PT sites increased in activity between Session 1 and Session 2, then de-creased in left PT activity from Session 2 to Session 3. Compar-ison of L2 laterality (as compared to L1 laterality) in auditory and visual groups failed to demonstrate greater RH lateraliza-tion for the visual versus auditory L2. These data establish a common role for Broca’s area in language acquisition irre-spective of the perceptual form of the language and suggest that L2s are processed similar to first languages even when learned after the ‘‘critical period.’ ’ The right frontal cortex was not preferentially recruited by visual language after account-ing for phonetic/structural complexity and performance. &
Motor Sequence Learning and Developmental Dyslexia
"... Beyond the reading-related deficits typical of developmental dyslexia (DD), recent ev-idence suggests that individuals afflicted with this condition also show difficulties in motor sequence learning. To date, however, little is known with respect to the charac-teristics of the learning impairments, ..."
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Beyond the reading-related deficits typical of developmental dyslexia (DD), recent ev-idence suggests that individuals afflicted with this condition also show difficulties in motor sequence learning. To date, however, little is known with respect to the charac-teristics of the learning impairments, nor to the neural correlates associated with this type of procedural deficit in DD patients. Here, we first summarize the results of the few behavioral and brain imaging studies that have investigated the effects of DD on motor sequence learning. To help guide research in this field, we then discuss relevant psychophysical and neuroimaging work conducted in healthy volunteers in relation to three different conceptual perspectives: when, how, and what. More specifically, we examine the cognitive boundaries that affect performance across the different stages of learning (i.e., “when”), the different cognitive processes (i.e., “how”) under which learning occurs, and the mental representations (i.e., “what”) that are elicited when acquiring this type of skilled behavior. It is hoped that this conceptual framework will be useful to researchers interested in further studying the nature of the motor learning impairment reported in DD. Key words: motor sequence learning; developmental dyslexia; functional brain imaging; adults; children; explicit learning; implicit learning; motor representa-tions; learning stages
Disruption of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Facilitates the Consolidation of Procedural Skills
"... ■ In explicit sequence learning tasks, an improvement in performance (skill) typically occurs after sleep—leading to the recent literature on sleep-dependent motor consolidation. Consolidation can also be facilitated during wakefulness if declarative knowledge for the sequence is reduced through a s ..."
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■ In explicit sequence learning tasks, an improvement in performance (skill) typically occurs after sleep—leading to the recent literature on sleep-dependent motor consolidation. Consolidation can also be facilitated during wakefulness if declarative knowledge for the sequence is reduced through a secondary cognitive task. Accordingly, declarative and procedural consolidation processes appear to mutually interact. Here we used TMS to test the hypothesis that functions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that support declarative memory formation indirectly reduce the formation of procedural representations. We hypothesize that disrupting the DLPFC immediately after sequence learning would degrade the retention or the consolidation of the sequence within the declarative memory system and thus facilitate consolidation within procedural memory systems,
The neuroscience of musical improvisation
, 2015
"... Abstract: Researchers have recently begun to examine the neural basis of musical improvisation, one of the most complex forms of creative behavior. The emerging field of improvisation neuroscience has implications not only for the study of artistic expertise, but also for understanding the neural u ..."
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Abstract: Researchers have recently begun to examine the neural basis of musical improvisation, one of the most complex forms of creative behavior. The emerging field of improvisation neuroscience has implications not only for the study of artistic expertise, but also for understanding the neural underpinnings of domain-general processes such as motor control and language production. This review synthesizes functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) studies of musical improvisation, including vocal and instrumental improvisation, with samples of jazz pianists, classical musicians, freestyle rap artists, and non-musicians. A network of prefrontal brain regions commonly linked to improvisatory behavior is highlighted, including the presupplementary motor area, medial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal premotor cortex. Activation of premotor and lateral prefrontal regions suggests that a seemingly unconstrained behavior may actually benefit from motor planning and cognitive control. Yet activation of cortical midline regions points to a role of spontaneous cognition characteristic of the default network. Together, such results may reflect cooperation between large-scale brain networks associated with cognitive control and spontaneous thought. The improvisation literature is integrated with Pressing's theoretical model, and discussed within the broader context of research on the brain basis of creative cognition.
doi:10.1093/comnet/cnt001 Dynamic network centrality summarizes learning in the human brain
, 2012
"... We study functional activity in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging and recently developed tools from network science. The data arise from the performance of a simple behavioural motor learning task. Unsupervised clustering of subjects with respect to similarity of net-work a ..."
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We study functional activity in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging and recently developed tools from network science. The data arise from the performance of a simple behavioural motor learning task. Unsupervised clustering of subjects with respect to similarity of net-work activity measured over 3 days of practice produces significant evidence of ‘learning’, in the sense that subjects typically move between clusters (of subjects whose dynamics are similar) as time progresses. c © The Authors 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
AdvAnces in cognitive Psychology Generalized lessons about sequence learning from the study of the serial reaction time task
, 2012
"... sequence learning, implicit learning, serial reaction time task over the last 20 years researchers have used the serial reaction time (srt) task to investigate the nature of spatial sequence learning. they have used the task to identify the locus of spatial sequence learning, identify situations th ..."
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sequence learning, implicit learning, serial reaction time task over the last 20 years researchers have used the serial reaction time (srt) task to investigate the nature of spatial sequence learning. they have used the task to identify the locus of spatial sequence learning, identify situations that enhance and those that impair learning, and identify the important cognitive processes that facilitate this type of learning. Although controversies remain, the srt task has been integral in enhancing our understanding of implicit sequence learning. it is important, however, to ask what, if anything, the discoveries made using the srt task tell us about implicit learning more generally. this review analyzes the state of the current spatial srt sequence learning literature highlighting the stimulus-response rule hypothesis of sequence learning which we believe provides a unifying account of discrepant srt data. it also challenges researchers to use the vast body of knowledge acquired with the srt task to understand other implicit learning literatures too often ignored in the context of this particular task. this broad perspective will make it possible to identify congruencies among data acquired using various different tasks that will allow us to generalize about the nature of implicit learning.
The Neural Bases of Regularity Learning
, 2005
"... We must suppose a very delicate adjustment whereby the circulation follows the needs of the cerebral activity. Blood very likely may rush to each region of the cortex according as it is most active, but of this we know nothing. William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890) Cognitive neuroscie ..."
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We must suppose a very delicate adjustment whereby the circulation follows the needs of the cerebral activity. Blood very likely may rush to each region of the cortex according as it is most active, but of this we know nothing. William James, The Principles of Psychology (1890) Cognitive neuroscience can move forward with greater confidence in the knowledge that changes in blood flow and oxygen levels do represent definable alterations in neuronal activity. Marcus E. Raichle, Nature, 412 (2001) The existence of two separate learning and memory systems has been proposed in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience (Chapter 1), specialized for complementary functions, namely (1) fast learning unique episodes (first system; Chapter 2) and (2) gradual learning regularities across multiple episodes (second system; Chapter 3). The present thesis aimed at specifying the neural and cognitive bases of the second system. Within the framework of this thesis, the term ‘regularity learning ’ was introduced to define the learning process associated with the second system, namely the extraction of regularities,
Cerebral Cortex doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm173 Memory Formation in the Motor Cortex Ipsilateral to a Training Hand
"... Cortical reorganization within the primary motor cortex (M1) contralateral to a practicing hand has been extensively investi-gated. The extent to which the ipsilateral M1 participates in these plastic changes is not known. Here, we evaluated the influence of unilateral hand practice on the organizat ..."
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Cortical reorganization within the primary motor cortex (M1) contralateral to a practicing hand has been extensively investi-gated. The extent to which the ipsilateral M1 participates in these plastic changes is not known. Here, we evaluated the influence of unilateral hand practice on the organization of the M1 ipsilateral and contralateral to the practicing hand in healthy human subjects. Index finger movements elicited by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) delivered to each M1 were evaluated before and after practice of unilateral voluntary index finger abduction motions. Practice increased the proportion and accel-eration of TMS-evoked movements in the trained direction and the amplitude of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in the abduction agonist first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle in the practicing hand and decreased the proportion and acceleration of TMS-evoked abduction movements and MEP amplitudes in the abduction agonist FDI in the opposite resting hand. Our findings indicate that unilateral hand practice specifically weakened the representation of the practiced movement in the ipsilateral M1 to an extent proportional to the strengthening effect in the contralateral M1, a result that varied with the practicing hand’s position. These results suggest a more prominent involvement of interacting bilateral motor networks in motor memory formation and probably acquisition of unimanual motor skills than previously thought.
