title: Simultaneous sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning.
abstract: Sensorimotor adaptation and sequence learning have often been treated as distinct forms of motor learning. But frequently the motor system must acquire both types of experience simultaneously. Here, we investigated the interaction of these two forms of motor learning by having subjects adapt to predictable forces imposed by a robotic manipulandum while simultaneously reaching to an implicit sequence of targets. We show that adaptation to novel dynamics and learning of a sequence of movements can occur simultaneously and without significant interference or facilitation. When both conditions were presented simultaneously to subjects, their trajectory error and reaction time decreased to the same extent as those of subjects who experienced the force field or sequence independently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. overduin@mit.edu
authors.forename: Simon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Overduin
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bizzi
authors.forename: Daniel Z
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Press
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012371:Robotics; D014584:User-Computer Interface