Success modulates consolidation of a visuomotor adaptation task

Consolidation is a time-dependent process that is responsible for the storage of information in long-term memory. As such, it plays a crucial role in motor learning. Prior research suggests that some consolidation processes are triggered only when the learner experiences some success during practice. In the present study, we tested whether consolidation processes depend on the objective performance of the learner or on the learner's subjective evaluation of his or her own performance (i.e., how successful the learner believes he or she is). Four groups of participants performed 2 sessions of a visuomotor adaptation task for which they had to learn a new internal model of limb kinematics; these sessions were either 5 min or 24 hr apart. The task was identical for all participants, but each group was given a difficult or an easy objective that affected the participants' evaluation of their own performance during the initial practice session. All groups adapted their movements similarly to the rotation of the visual feedback during the first session. However, when retested the following day, participants who had a 24-hr rest interval and had initially experienced success performed significantly better than those who did not feel successful or who were given a 5-min rest interval. Our results indicate that a certain level of subjective success must be experienced to trigger certain consolidation processes.