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Experience-dependent alterations in conscious resting state activity following perceptuomotor learning
S M Daselaar1, W Huijbers, M de Jonge
1University of Amsterdam, Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Netherlands. s.m.daselaar@uva.nl
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|January 5, 2010
Summary
Neural activity patterns in humans during rest periods are reactivated after learning a new task. This reactivation in the superior parietal cortex may help consolidate perceptuomotor memories.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Neural activity patterns are reactivated during rest or sleep in animals, a process linked to memory consolidation.
- Brain imaging studies have shown this reactivation in humans during sleep, but not during wakeful rest.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether learning-related neural reactivation occurs in humans during wakeful rest.
- To explore the link between this reactivation and the consolidation of perceptuomotor memories.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan participants.
- Participants trained on a perceptuomotor task between two rest periods.
- A control group did not undergo task training.
Main Results:
- Robust activity was observed in the superior parietal cortex during training.
- This superior parietal cortex area showed significant reactivation during post-training rest.
- Reactivation in this region was correlated with learning, and absent in the control group.
Conclusions:
- Learning-related neural reactivation occurs in humans during wakeful rest.
- This process in the superior parietal cortex may contribute to the consolidation of perceptuomotor memories.
