Linking motor working memory to explicit and implicit motor learning

Explicit and implicit components of motor learning have been widely studied, but the extent to which movement information encoded and maintained in working memory (Motor Working Memory; MWM) contributes to motor learning remains unclear. Building on recent work pointing to separate effector-independent (abstract) and effector-specific (limb-bound) information formats in MWM, we conducted a correlational study in which human participants completed both a MWM task and a visuomotor rotation task. We observed that: 1) the fidelity of effector-independent MWM was selectively correlated with the degree of explicit visuomotor learning, and 2) the fidelity of inferred effector-specific MWM was selectively correlated with the degree of implicit visuomotor learning. Together, these results point to a possible relationship in which different formats of motor information stored in WM may contribute to distinct components of long-term motor learning, shedding light on a novel cognitive-motor interaction.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Working memory is important for motor learning, yet its role beyond visuospatial domains remains unclear. Here, we examine whether and how non-visual Motor Working Memory (MWM) is related to long-term motor learning. Specifically, we identified selective correlations between effector-independent MWM and explicit motor learning processes, and between effector-specific MWM and implicit motor learning processes. These findings extend prior research relating visuospatial working memory to motor learning and highlight distinct MWM mechanisms supporting different learning processes.