Sensorimotor confidence during explicit motor adaptation.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Motor Control
• Human Adaptation

Background:

• Humans exhibit remarkable adaptability to sudden sensory feedback changes.
• Understanding the cues for confidence in action success and its dynamics during sensorimotor adaptation is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate multisensory and motor-execution cues used for sensorimotor confidence.
• To determine if confidence dynamics parallel sensorimotor adaptation dynamics.
• To compare Bayesian models of sensorimotor confidence.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed reaching movements with visual perturbations.
• Confidence was continuously assessed by adjusting an arc size.
• Four Bayesian models incorporating prospective and retrospective cues were compared using least-squares cross-validation.

Main Results:

• Most participants utilized proprioception alongside prior information for confidence judgments.
• Confidence recovered exponentially to pre-perturbation levels post-adaptation.
• The rate of confidence recovery was slower than the rate of motor learning.

Conclusions:

• Proprioception plays a key role in sensorimotor confidence during adaptation.
• Confidence and motor adaptation exhibit distinct recovery dynamics.
• Bayesian inference models provide a framework for understanding sensorimotor confidence.