Inter-limb transfer of learned ankle movements

Inter-limb learning transfer (ILT) between the upper-limbs has been well documented, but no corresponding study of the lower limbs has been done. We investigated ILT in the lower limbs of subjects who learned to move a cursor toward targets within 800 ms using ankle movements: plantar/dorsi-flexion and inversion/eversion. Twenty-two healthy right-dominant subjects were divided into two groups: half performed the tasks first using the right foot (group RL), and the other half performed it first with the left foot (group LR). Targets appeared on a computer screen at head-height while subjects were seated with one foot on a goniometric ankle platform. Subjects were required to move the cursor toward one of three randomly appearing targets under two conditions: (1) neutral or no visual motor rotation, and (2) with a 30 degrees visuo-motor rotation. Performance was quantified by computing the z-score for direction and position errors for each subject and ILT was assessed by comparing group performances for each foot. Results demonstrated that group LR but not group RL experienced significant ILT of directional as well as positional information in both tasks in a manner reflective of the distinctly different functional roles played by the upper and lower limbs.