Sensorimotor adaptation impedes perturbation detection in grasping.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Human motor control
• Perception

Background:

• Skilled actions rely on sensorimotor adaptation to correct errors.
• Adaptation can occur with explicit error detection or implicit processing.
• Understanding error signal contributions to perturbation detection is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how perturbation magnitude and error signals influence size perturbation detection.
• Differentiate explicit and implicit error detection during sensorimotor adaptation.
• Examine the impact of perturbation schedules on adaptation and detection.

Main Methods:

• Participants grasped objects with visuo-haptic size mismatches (perturbations).
• Perturbations were introduced abruptly or sinusoidally to dissociate error signals.
• Two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task and motion tracking measured detection and grip adjustments.

Main Results:

• Mismatch detection was similar for sinusoidal perturbations and the first trial after abrupt changes.
• Detection performance decreased over trials following abrupt perturbations.
• Abrupt perturbations showed stronger error correction but no correlation with detection performance.

Conclusions:

• Reduced error signals after adaptation impair perturbation detection.
• Perturbation magnitude and error signals have distinct roles in sensory detection.
• Sensorimotor adaptation involves complex interactions between error correction and detection.