title: Correlations between brain activity and components of motor learning in middle-aged adults: an fMRI study.
abstract: Implicit learning may be shown by improvements in motor performance, which occur unconsciously with practice and are typically restricted to the task that was practiced. The purpose of this study was to examine behaviorally relevant brain activation associated with change in motor behavior during sequence-specific motor learning of a perceptuomotor continuous tracking (CT) task in middle-aged adults. To gain further insight into the neural structures associated with change in motor behavior, overall improvement in tracking (root mean square error; RMSE) was decomposed into two components-temporal precision and spatial accuracy. We hypothesized that individual differences in CT task performance would be evident in unique networks of brain activation that supported overall tracking behavior as well-temporal and spatial tracking accuracy. A group of middle-aged healthy individuals performed the CT task, which contains repeated and random segments for seven days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data was collected on the first and seventh day while the participants performed the task. Subjects did not gain explicit awareness of the sequence. To assess behaviorally-relevant changes in the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) response associated with individual sequence-specific tracking performance, separate statistical images were created for each participant and weighted by the difference score between repeated and random performance for days 1 and 7. Given the similarity of performance for random and repeated sequences during early practice, there were no unique networks evident at day 1. On Day 7 the resultant group statistical fMRI image demonstrated a positive correlation between RMSE difference score and bilateral cerebellar activation (lobule VI). In addition, individuals who showed greater sequence-specific temporal precision demonstrated increased activation in the precentral gyrus, middle occipital gyrus, and putamen of the right hemisphere and the thalamus, cuneus, and cerebellum of the left hemisphere. Activation of this neural network further confirms its involvement in timing of movements as it has been previously associated with task performance when individuals are instructed to emphasize speed over accuracy. In the present study, behavioral performance was associated with neural correlates of individual variation in motor learning that characterized the ability to implicitly learn a sequence-specific CT task.
authors: Graduate Program in School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors: Katie
authors: K
authors: Wadden
authors: Katlyn
authors: K
authors: Brown
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Maletsky
authors: Lara A
authors: LA
authors: Boyd
keywords: correlation analysis; fMRI; implicit learning; middle aged; motor sequence learning; temporal precision
references: Brain. 1997 Jan;120 ( Pt 1):123-40
references: 9055803
references: Neuropsychologia. 1998 Jul;36(7):625-41
references: 9723934
references: Nature. 1995 Sep 14;377(6545):155-8
references: 7675082
references: J Neurosci. 2003 Sep 10;23(23):8432-44
references: 12968006
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Jan 22;99(2):1017-22
references: 11805340
references: J Neurophysiol. 2002 Oct;88(4):2035-46
references: 12364526
references: Behav Brain Funct. 2009 Aug 28;5:36
references: 19715593
references: J Neurosci. 2011 Nov 23;31(47):17242-9
references: 22114290
references: Behav Brain Res. 2009 Apr 12;199(1):61-75
references: 19061920
references: Neurosci Lett. 2001 Jan 26;298(1):65-9
references: 11154837
references: J Neurosci. 1994 Jun;14(6):3775-90
references: 8207487
references: J Psychiatr Res. 1975 Nov;12(3):189-98
references: 1202204
references: Cereb Cortex. 2002 Sep;12(9):926-35
references: 12183392
references: Psychol Aging. 1997 Dec;12(4):634-56
references: 9416632
references: Percept Mot Skills. 1982 Dec;55(3 Pt 1):1003-16
references: 7162899
references: Psychol Aging. 1992 Jun;7(2):232-41
references: 1610513
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Aug 30;102(35):12566-71
references: 16107540
references: Hum Brain Mapp. 2011 Feb;32(2):290-303
references: 20725908
references: Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2004 Sep;18(3):134-43
references: 15375273
references: Exp Brain Res. 2002 Oct;146(3):369-78
references: 12232693
references: Psychol Aging. 2010 Jun;25(2):377-90
references: 20545422
references: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2006 May;59(5):845-54
references: 16608750
references: Trends Neurosci. 1999 Oct;22(10):464-71
references: 10481194
references: Neuroscience. 1998 Sep;86(2):353-87
references: 9881853
references: Hum Brain Mapp. 2011 Mar;32(3):494-508
references: 20533562
references: Q J Exp Psychol A. 2005 Apr;58(3):387-419
references: 16025755
references: Neuroimage. 2011 Oct 15;58(4):1150-7
references: 21771663
references: Learn Mem. 2004 Jul-Aug;11(4):388-96
references: 15286181
references: Psychol Res. 2011 Sep;75(5):406-22
references: 21287199
references: Comput Biomed Res. 1996 Jun;29(3):162-73
references: 8812068
references: Br J Psychol. 1985 May;76 ( Pt 2):199-203
references: 4027487
references: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2009 Jul;92(1):35-44
references: 19249378
references: Neuroimage. 1999 Sep;10(3 Pt 1):233-60
references: 10458940
references: J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Nov;20(11):1952-65
references: 18416686
references: Neuroreport. 2005 Aug 22;16(12):1291-5
references: 16056127
references: J Neurophysiol. 2002 Sep;88(3):1451-60
references: 12205165
references: Neuropsychologia. 2003;41(3):252-62
references: 12457751
references: J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Nov;19(11):1854-71
references: 17958488
references: Neuron. 2003 Mar 27;37(6):1013-25
references: 12670429
references: Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2007 Sep-Oct;21(5):444-54
references: 17416874
references: J Cogn Neurosci. 2010 Nov;22(11):2663-76
references: 19925191
references: Brain. 2002 Dec;125(Pt 12):2731-42
references: 12429600
references: Hum Brain Mapp. 1997;5(2):124-32
references: 10096417
references: Brain Res. 2007 Mar 16;1137(1):104-10
references: 17239828