title: Functionally specific changes in resting-state sensorimotor networks after motor learning.
abstract: Motor learning changes the activity of cortical motor and subcortical areas of the brain, but does learning affect sensory systems as well? We examined in humans the effects of motor learning using fMRI measures of functional connectivity under resting conditions and found persistent changes in networks involving both motor and somatosensory areas of the brain. We developed a technique that allows us to distinguish changes in functional connectivity that can be attributed to motor learning from those that are related to perceptual changes that occur in conjunction with learning. Using this technique, we identified a new network in motor learning involving second somatosensory cortex, ventral premotor cortex, and supplementary motor cortex whose activation is specifically related to perceptual changes that occur in conjunction with motor learning. We also found changes in a network comprising cerebellar cortex, primary motor cortex, and dorsal premotor cortex that were linked to the motor aspects of learning. In each network, we observed highly reliable linear relationships between neuroplastic changes and behavioral measures of either motor learning or perceptual function. Motor learning thus results in functionally specific changes to distinct resting-state networks in the brain.
authors: Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1B1.
authors: Shahabeddin
authors: S
authors: Vahdat
authors: Mohammad
authors: M
authors: Darainy
authors: Theodore E
authors: TE
authors: Milner
authors: David J
authors: DJ
authors: Ostry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult