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Reward-dependent modulation of movement variability.

Sarah E Pekny1, Jun Izawa2, Reza Shadmehr3

  • 1Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, and sep205@gmail.com.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|March 6, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Movement variability aids exploration by adjusting motor commands for success. The basal ganglia control this, but Parkinson's disease impairs reward-dependent variability, especially after failure.

Keywords:
Parkinson's diseasecomputational modelsmotor controlreaching

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Movement variability is often viewed as neural noise.
  • However, it may represent intentional exploration for optimal motor commands.
  • The basal ganglia's role in this reward-dependent variability is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate the human basal ganglia's control of reward-dependent motor variability.
  • Examine how reward probability and history modulate movement variability.
  • Compare variability control in healthy individuals and Parkinson's disease patients.

Main Methods:

  • Designed a reaching task with success/failure feedback.
  • Quantified trial-to-trial reach variability.
  • Assessed variability modulation based on reward probability and history.
  • Compared healthy controls and Parkinson's disease patients.

Main Results:

  • Healthy controls increased reach variability when reward probability decreased.
  • Variability control was influenced by recent reward history, increasing after unrewarded trials.
  • Parkinson's disease patients showed impaired reward-dependent variability modulation.
  • Patients struggled to increase variability following decreased reward probability.

Conclusions:

  • Movement variability is partly driven by reward-based exploration.
  • The basal ganglia are crucial for reward-dependent control of movement variability.
  • Compromised basal ganglia function impairs the ability to adjust variability, particularly after negative outcomes.