TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: ISOMETRIC SKILL LEARNING TRANSFERS SYMMETRICALLY WITHIN A LIMB
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Date
2014-05-06
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Improvements in motor performance under one context can sometimes be generalized to improve performance under other contexts. For example, learning how to catch a ball with one hand can enhance the performance of catching the same ball with the other hand (Morton, Lang, & Bastian, 2001). This form of generalization is known as transfer (J. W. Krakauer, Mazzoni, Ghazizadeh, Ravindran, & Shadmehr, 2006). The present study aimed to explore the components of intra-limb transfer in the context of learning an isometric skill. The isometric component removed confounds from movement kinematics and changes in effector position. Subjects in each of three groups performed isometric tasks with their arm and fingers separately, but with carefully matched task goals. On the first day of the study, subjects performed baseline assessments with each effector. The second day, depending on an individual’s assigned group, subjects either experienced a training session with their arm or their finger, or experienced no training session. Follow-up assessments with each effector were conducted on the third day. The results showed that the arm and finger training groups improved their performance with the respective effector compared to a control group that did not train. More importantly, the learned skill also transferred to the untrained effector. These results suggest that intra-limb isometric skill learning tasks could be used for the motor rehabilitation of stroke survivors.
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Keywords
transfer, skill learning, isometric, symmetric, intra-limb, information theory