Interference underlies attenuation upon relearning in sensorimotor adaptation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Motor Control
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Savings in sensorimotor adaptation, the performance gain upon relearning, is well-documented.
• However, implicit sensorimotor adaptation's contribution to savings is attenuated after washout periods.
• This attenuation is hypothesized to stem from interference caused by the washout experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of interference from washout blocks in attenuating implicit sensorimotor adaptation during relearning.
• To determine if eliminating salient error signals or visual feedback during washout affects savings.
• To explore the impact of prior experience with veridical feedback on subsequent adaptation.

Main Methods:

• Replication of implicit adaptation attenuation following a washout with salient opposite error signals.
• Manipulation of washout conditions: elimination of visual feedback versus gradual perturbation decrease.
• Introduction of an extended baseline phase with veridical feedback before adaptation.

Main Results:

• Eliminating visual feedback during washout prevented the attenuation of implicit adaptation upon relearning.
• Gradually decreasing perturbation during washout did not prevent attenuation.
• Extended experience with veridical feedback prior to adaptation robustly attenuated subsequent implicit adaptation in a context-specific manner.

Conclusions:

• Memory interference from recent, discrepant action-outcome contingencies significantly impacts the implicit sensorimotor adaptation system.
• The washout block's salient error signal is not the sole cause of interference; prior experience with different feedback relationships is critical.
• Implicit adaptation is sensitive to context and prior learning history, highlighting the complex interplay of memory and motor recalibration.