Kinesiology and Physical Education, Northern Illinois University, 228 Anderson Hall, DeKalb, IL, 60115, USA.
Biomedical Engineering, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA.
Exp Brain Res. 2021 Nov;239(11):3243-3254. doi: 10.1007/s00221-021-06200-x. Epub 2021 Aug 28.
Previous studies have shown that reinforcement-based motor learning requires the brain to process feedback-related information after movement execution. However, whether reinforcement feedback changes how the brain processes motor preparation before movement execution is unclear. By using electroencephalography (EEG), this study investigates whether reinforcement feedback changes cortical preparatory activity to modulate motor learning and memory. Human subjects were divided in three groups [reward, punishment, control] to perform a visuomotor rotation task under different conditions that assess adaptation (learning) and retention (memory) during the task. Reinforcement feedback was provided in the form of points after each trial that signaled monetary gains (reward) or losses (punishment). EEG was utilized to evaluate the amplitude of movement readiness potentials (MRPs) at the beginning of each trial for each group during the adaptation and retention conditions of the task. The results show that punishment feedback significantly decreased MRPs amplitude during both task conditions compared to Reward and Control groups. Moreover, the punishment-related decrease in MRPs amplitude paralleled decreases in motor performance during the retention but not the adaptation condition. No changes in MRPs or motor performance were observed in the Reward group. These results support the idea that reinforcement feedback modulates motor preparation and suggest that changes in cortical preparatory activity contribute to the visuomotor retention deficits observed after punishment feedback.
先前的研究表明，基于强化的运动学习要求大脑在运动执行后处理反馈相关信息。然而，强化反馈是否会改变大脑在运动执行前处理运动准备的方式尚不清楚。本研究通过使用脑电图（EEG），研究了强化反馈是否会改变皮质预备活动，从而调节运动学习和记忆。研究将人类受试者分为三组[奖励、惩罚、控制]，在不同条件下执行视觉运动旋转任务，以评估任务过程中的适应（学习）和保持（记忆）。强化反馈以每次试验后的分数形式提供，表明货币收益（奖励）或损失（惩罚）。在任务的适应和保持条件下，研究使用 EEG 评估了每个组在每个试验开始时运动准备潜力（MRP）的幅度。结果表明，与奖励和对照组相比，惩罚反馈在两种任务条件下都显著降低了 MRP 的幅度。此外，在保持而不是适应条件下，与惩罚相关的 MRP 幅度下降与运动表现下降平行。在奖励组中未观察到 MRP 或运动表现的变化。这些结果支持强化反馈调节运动准备的观点，并表明皮质预备活动的变化可能导致惩罚反馈后观察到的视觉运动保持缺陷。
