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Rapid and Long-Lasting Plasticity of Input-Output Mapping

¹Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Medical Center; ²Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition; and ³Departments of Neurobiology, ⁴Psychiatry, and ⁵Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Submitted 27 February 2006; accepted in final form 18 August 2006

Skilled use of tools requires us to learn an "input-output map" for the device, i.e., how our movements relate to the actions of the device. We used the paradigm of visuo-motor rotation to examine two questions about the plasticity of input-output maps: 1) does extensive practice on one mapping make it difficult to modify and/or to form a new input-output map and 2) once a map has been modified or a new map has been formed, does this map survive a gap in performance? Humans and monkeys made wrist movements to control the position of a cursor on a computer monitor. Humans practiced the task for 1.5 h; monkeys practiced for 3–9 yr. After this practice, we gradually altered the direction of cursor movement relative to wrist movement while subjects moved either to a single target or to four targets. Subjects were unaware of the change in cursor–movement relationship. Despite their prior practice on the task, the humans and the monkeys quickly adjusted their motor output to compensate for the visuo-motor rotation. Monkeys retained the modified input-output map during a 2-wk gap in motor performance. Humans retained the altered map during a gap of >1 yr. Our results show that sensorimotor performance remains flexible despite considerable practice on a specific task, and even relatively short-term exposure to a new input-output mapping leads to a long-lasting change in motor performance.

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