Single session motor learning demonstrated using a visuomotor task: Evidence from fMRI and behavioural analysis.

There is a continuing need to improve understanding of the central nervous system control of learning. Specifically, there is a need to examine the characteristics of cortical and sub-cortical activity linked to the stages of motor learning, including those occurring within a single-session. In this study we sought to design and investigate a visuomotor task to determine its ability to assess the component of motor learning occurring during a single session of fMRI (i.e., the 'online' improvement in motor performance). Fourteen healthy control subjects performed a visuomotor task requiring a combination of bilateral grip force to accurately move a cursor towards a target. We assessed online motor learning by comparing behavioural measures (accuracy and error magnitude) and the extent of spatial activation in specific brain regions of interest (ROIs) using fMRI pre- and post-training. Results showed a training-related improvement in performance based on increased accuracy (p<0.0125) and decreased error magnitude (p<0.0125) from pre- to post-training. Decreases in the extent of spatial activation from pre- to post-training in the majority of ROIs supported a training-related attenuation in brain activity associated with online motor learning. Importantly, decreases in error magnitude across conditions (p<0.05) confirmed that improvements in performance continued over the entire course of the experiment. Establishing this task may permit more extensive study of the neural correlates of single-session, online learning in healthy individuals and those with motor control challenges. Information obtained from such studies may provide an opportunity to improve interventions in neurological rehabilitation.