JN Journal of Applied Physiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Neurophysiol (January 19, 2005). doi:10.1152/jn.00883.2004
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
93/6/3327    most recent
00883.2004v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Malfait, N.
Right arrow Articles by Ostry, D. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Malfait, N.
Right arrow Articles by Ostry, D. J.
Submitted on August 25, 2004
Accepted on January 13, 2005

Generalization of motor learning based on multiple field exposures and local adaptation

Nicole Malfait, Paul L. Gribble, and David J. Ostry*

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ostry{at}motion.psych.mcgill.ca.

Previous studies have used transfer of learning over workspace locations as a means to determine whether subjects code information about dynamics in extrinsic or intrinsic coordinates. Transfer has been observed when the torque associated with joint displacement is similar between workspace locations - rather than when the mapping between hand displacement and force is preserved - which is consistent with muscle- or joint based encoding. In the present study, we address the generality of an intrinsic coding of dynamics and examine how generalization occurs when the pattern of torques varies over the workspace. In two initial experiments, we examined transfer of learning when the direction of a force field was fixed relative to an external frame of reference. While there were no beneficial effects of transfer following training at a single location (Experiment 1 and 2), excellent performance was observed at the center of the workspace following training at two lateral locations (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 and associated simulations assessed the characteristics of this generalization. In these studies, we examined the patterns of transfer observed following adaptation to force fields that were composed of two subfields that acted in opposite directions. The experimental and simulated data are consistent with the idea that information about dynamics is encoded in intrinsic coordinates. The nervous system generalizes dynamics learning by interpolating between sets of control signals, each locally adapted to different patterns of torques.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
S. Tremblay, G. Houle, and D. J. Ostry
Specificity of Speech Motor Learning
J. Neurosci., March 5, 2008; 28(10): 2426 - 2434.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
A. A. G. Mattar and D. J. Ostry
Modifiability of Generalization in Dynamics Learning
J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2007; 98(6): 3321 - 3329.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
A. A. G. Mattar and D. J. Ostry
Neural Averaging in Motor Learning
J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2007; 97(1): 220 - 228.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
L. E. Sergio, C. Hamel-Paquet, and J. F. Kalaska
Motor Cortex Neural Correlates of Output Kinematics and Kinetics During Isometric-Force and Arm-Reaching Tasks
J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2005; 94(4): 2353 - 2378.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2005 by the The American Physiological Society.