title: The influence of catch trials on the consolidation of motor memory in force field adaptation tasks.
abstract: In computational neuroscience it is generally accepted that human motor memory contains neural representations of the physics of the musculoskeletal system and the objects in the environment. These representations are called "internal models". Force field studies, in which subjects have to adapt to dynamic perturbations induced by a robotic manipulandum, are an established tool to analyze the characteristics of such internal models. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether catch trials during force field learning could influence the consolidation of motor memory in more complex tasks. Thereby, the force field was more than double the force field of previous studies (35 N·s/m). Moreover, the arm of the subjects was not supported. A total of 46 subjects participated in this study and performed center-out movements at a robotic manipulandum in two different force fields. Two control groups learned force field A on day 1 and were retested in the same force field on day 3 (AA). Two test groups additionally learned an interfering force field B (= -A) on day 2 (ABA). The difference between the two test and control groups, respectively, was the absence (0%) or presence (19%) of catch trials, in which the force field was turned-off suddenly. The results showed consolidation of force field A on day 3 for both control groups. Test groups showed no consolidation of force field A (19% catch trials) and even poorer performance on day 3 (0% catch trials). In conclusion, it can be stated that catch trials seem to have a positive effect on the performance on day 3 but do not trigger a consolidation process as shown in previous studies that used a lower force field viscosity with supported arm. These findings indicate that the results of previous studies in which less complex tasks were analyzed, cannot be fully transferred to more complex tasks. Moreover, the effects of catch trials in these situations are insufficiently understood and further research is needed.
authors.affiliation: YIG "Computational Motor Control and Learning", BioMotion Center, Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Focke
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stockinger
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diepold
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taubert
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stein
keywords: after-effects; complex task; interference; manipulandum; motor learning; reaching movements
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1994 May;14(5 Pt 2):3208-24
references.pmid: 8182467
references.citation: Science. 1997 Aug 8;277(5327):821-5
references.pmid: 9242612
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1997 Jan 1;17(1):409-19
references.pmid: 8987766
references.citation: J Neurosci Methods. 2013 Mar 15;213(2):282-97
references.pmid: 23276545
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1985 Jul;5(7):1688-703
references.pmid: 4020415
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Aug;10(8):585-96
references.pmid: 19571792
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2006 Jun;4(6):e179
references.pmid: 16700627
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Jan 12;25(2):473-8
references.pmid: 15647491
references.citation: Nature. 2002 Feb 7;415(6872):640-4
references.pmid: 11807497
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 2001 Nov;141(2):250-3
references.pmid: 11713636
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2004 Oct 6;24(40):8662-71
references.pmid: 15470131
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2002 Nov 15;22(22):9656-60
references.pmid: 12427820
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2006 Nov 15;26(46):11888-92
references.pmid: 17108162
references.citation: J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2009 Feb 25;6:5
references.pmid: 19243614
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Sep 28;31(39):13829-39
references.pmid: 21957245
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 2006 Jan;29(1):58-64
references.pmid: 16290273
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1999 Dec;9(6):718-27
references.pmid: 10607637
references.citation: Nature. 1996 Jul 18;382(6588):252-5
references.pmid: 8717039
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 2012 Mar 1;228(1):219-31
references.pmid: 22142953
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2008 Sep 24;28(39):9610-8
references.pmid: 18815247
references.citation: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2010;33:89-108
references.pmid: 20367317
references.citation: Biol Cybern. 2012 Dec;106(11-12):715-26
references.pmid: 23160712
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004 Jul;5(7):576-82
references.pmid: 15208699
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 19;29(33):10396-404
references.pmid: 19692614
references.citation: Exp Brain Res. 2004 Jan;154(2):201-10
references.pmid: 14608451
references.citation: Nature. 2000 Oct 12;407(6805):742-7
references.pmid: 11048720