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Intermanual transfer effects in sequential tactuomotor learning: evidence for effector independent coding.

Hanneke I van Mier1, Steven E Petersen

  • 1Faculty of Psychology, Department of Neurocognition, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. h.vanmier@psychology.unimaas.nl

Neuropsychologia
|October 4, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Motor learning is abstract and effector-independent. Practicing a maze task with one hand leads to better performance when transferring to the identical maze with the other hand, not a mirror image.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Learning
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Previous brain imaging studies indicated distinct brain areas activated during naive versus practiced motor performance.
  • Lateralized changes in brain activation during practice suggest effector-independent abstract coding of information.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate intermanual transfer of motor learning to test the hypothesis of abstract, effector-independent coding.
  • To determine if learning is stored in a way that is independent of the specific limb used for practice.

Main Methods:

  • Participants (n=24) performed a maze-learning task with either their dominant or non-dominant hand.
  • Intermanual transfer was assessed by having participants attempt the task with the contralateral hand on either an identical or a mirror-image maze.

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  • Performance was measured by errors and velocity during naive, practiced, and transfer conditions.

    • Main Results:

    • Intermanual transfer of learning was significantly greater to the identical maze compared to the mirror maze.
    • No significant differences were observed based on handedness, sex, or transfer direction.

    Conclusions:

    • Motor learning occurs at an abstract, effector-independent level.
    • The brain encodes learned motor skills in a format that is not tied to a specific limb, supporting abstract representation of movement.