Rewarding feedback promotes motor skill consolidation via striatal activity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Motor Learning

Background:

• The striatum, a core component of the brain's reward system, plays a vital role in motivated behavior.
• Understanding how performance feedback influences neural activity and skill acquisition is essential for optimizing learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of different types of performance feedback on motor skill learning and consolidation.
• To examine the neural correlates of performance feedback within the striatum using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Main Methods:

• Participants trained on a repetitive arc-tracking task, receiving different feedback conditions: random, performance-contingent, or performance-contingent with monetary reward.
• Striatal activity was measured using fMRI during task training.
• Motor skill acquisition and consolidation were assessed by comparing performance before, immediately after, and 24 hours after training.

Main Results:

• Knowledge of performance influenced motor skill learning across all feedback groups.
• The group receiving performance-contingent feedback plus a monetary reward demonstrated superior skill consolidation compared to knowledge of performance alone.
• Higher ventral striatal activation was observed in the group that received monetary rewards for good performance.

Conclusions:

• Feedback significantly impacts motor skill learning and consolidation.
• Monetary rewards, when coupled with performance feedback, enhance both ventral striatal activation and the consolidation of motor skills.
• Leveraging reward-based strategies that boost ventral striatal responses may be a promising approach to improve motor skill consolidation.