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Goal uncertainty attenuates sensorimotor adaptation
Sritej Padmanabhan1,2, Reza Shadmehr3, Roberta L Klatzky1
1Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|November 27, 2025
Summary
Goal uncertainty significantly slows implicit sensorimotor adaptation, the automatic correction of movement errors. Precise goal representation is critical for motor learning and requires updating current motor learning models.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Implicit sensorimotor adaptation automatically corrects movement errors.
- This adaptation is driven by perceptual prediction errors.
- While feedback uncertainty's effect is known, goal uncertainty's impact is unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of goal uncertainty on implicit sensorimotor adaptation.
- To determine if precise goal representation is crucial for motor learning.
Main Methods:
- A visuomotor adaptation task was employed with 180 participants.
- Goal uncertainty was manipulated by varying target midpoint precision.
- Display format was independently varied to control for visual features.
Main Results:
- Goal uncertainty significantly attenuated implicit adaptation.
- This effect was independent of visual and kinematic features.
- Increased spatial ambiguity in the target midpoint reduced adaptation.
Conclusions:
- A precise internal representation of the motor goal is critical for sensorimotor adaptation.
- Motor learning models need revision to include goal uncertainty.
- Goal precision fundamentally modulates motor learning performance.
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