Bootsma Josje M, Caljouw Simone R, Veldman Menno P, Maurits Natasha M, Rothwell John C, Hortobágyi Tibor
Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Neuroscience. 2020 Dec 15;451:22-35. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.10.013. Epub 2020 Oct 17.
While the difficulty of a motor task can act as a stimulus for learning in younger adults, it is unknown how task difficulty interacts with age-related reductions in motor performance and altered brain activation. We examined the effects of task difficulty on motor performance and used electroencephalography (EEG) to probe task-related brain activation after acquisition and 24-h retention of a mirror star-tracing skill in healthy older adults (N = 36, 65-86 years). The results showed that the difficulty of the motor skill affected both the magnitude of motor skill learning and the underlying neural mechanisms. Behavioral data revealed that practicing a motor task at a high difficulty level hindered motor skill consolidation. The EEG data indicated that task difficulty modulated changes in brain activation after practice. Specifically, a decrease in task-related alpha power in frontal and parietal electrodes was only present after practice of the skill at the low and medium, but not the high difficulty level. Taken together, our findings show that a failure to engage neural plasticity through practice of a high-difficulty task is accompanied by reduced motor skill retention in older adults. The data help us better understand how older adults learn new motor skills and might have implications for prescribing motor skill practice according to its difficulty in rehabilitation settings.
虽然运动任务的难度可以作为年轻成年人学习的一种刺激因素，但尚不清楚任务难度如何与与年龄相关的运动表现下降和大脑激活改变相互作用。我们研究了任务难度对运动表现的影响，并使用脑电图（EEG）来探究健康老年人（N = 36，65 - 86岁）在习得镜像星型追踪技能并保留24小时后与任务相关的大脑激活情况。结果表明，运动技能的难度既影响运动技能学习的程度，也影响其潜在的神经机制。行为数据显示，在高难度水平下练习运动任务会阻碍运动技能巩固。EEG数据表明，任务难度调节了练习后大脑激活的变化。具体而言，仅在低难度和中等难度而非高难度水平练习技能后，额叶和顶叶电极处与任务相关的阿尔法波功率才会降低。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，在老年人中，通过高难度任务练习未能激活神经可塑性，同时运动技能保留也会减少。这些数据有助于我们更好地理解老年人如何学习新的运动技能，并且可能对在康复环境中根据运动技能练习的难度进行处方制定具有启示意义。
