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Cerebral changes during performance of overlearned arbitrary visuomotor associations
Meike J Grol1, Floris P de Lange, Frans A J Verstraten
1Psychonomics Division, Helmholtz Institute, University Utrecht, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.grol@fcdonders.ru.nl
Summary
The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) contributes to overlearned visuomotor skills, showing increased activity as arbitrary associations become automatic. This suggests the PPC plays a role in refining these learned behaviors for efficient motor control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is recognized for its role in spatially guided automatic movements.
- Its involvement in arbitrary visuomotor associations, where stimuli and responses are learned, remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the PPC's contribution to arbitrary visuomotor associations, particularly as these mappings become overlearned.
- To explore how the PPC encodes nonspatial sensory features during the learning and automation of sensorimotor tasks.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity during learning, overlearning, and relearning of arbitrary visuomotor associations.
- Time-varying modulations of brain activity were analyzed to capture dynamic learning processes, rather than just average responses.
Main Results:
- Frontal, striatal, and intraparietal regions exhibited decreasing or stable activity during novel association learning.
- Crucially, these same regions showed increased activity over time as arbitrary visuomotor mappings became overlearned, correlating with automaticity.
- This increase in PPC activity occurred despite stable behavioral performance.
Conclusions:
- The PPC's contribution to visuomotor control becomes apparent during the overlearning phase of arbitrary associations.
- Increased PPC activity may reflect the process of conveying sensory information to motor areas as mappings become robust and automatic.
- Dynamic changes in brain activity, especially within the PPC, underlie the development of stable, overlearned behaviors.