The serial reaction time task revisited: a study on motor sequence learning with an arm-reaching task

Moisello, Clara; Crupi, Domenica; Tunik, Eugene; Quartarone, Angelo; Bove, Marco; Tononi, Giulio; Ghilardi, Maria Felice

doi:10.1007/s00221-008-1681-5

Cited by 84 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…Thus, we think that the reduction in the total process time to final motor response may be attributed to the rapid onsets of muscle activation and movement initiation as motor sequential learning progressed. Our findings, showing a decline in total processing times, were in line with previous learning experiments with the SRT task, which exhibit a gradual reduction of the reaction time 5,11,12,15,16) . It has previously been established that motor sequential learning is accomplished by acquisition of explicit and implicit knowledge in multiple brain areas, including the cortical and subcortical structures 2,[17][18][19] .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…In a tanscranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiment by Krutky and Perreault 17) , changes in TMS-evoked muscle activity and joint movement were taken as evidence of short-term corticomotor plasticity after repetitive practice of a simple movement by the upper limb. Apart from providing evidence of neural processing, several prior studies have reported that movement onset time was reduced by motor sequential learning or physical exercise 7,11,[23][24] . Thus, we speculate that earlier onset of EMG activity and actual movement could result in reduction of the total processing time through efficient neural and neuromuscular processing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many previous studies have shown that motor sequential learning leads to a reduction in the reaction time and an improvement in correct responses, accompanied by efficient and effective processing in the neuromuscular system 5,11,12) . A c c o r d i n g t o f u n c t i o n a l M R I a n d electroencephalography, cortical excitability and the involved regional area are altered after motor learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence of Neuromuscular Adaptation According to Motor Sequential Learning in the Serial Reaction Time Task

Kwon¹,

Chang

Lee

et al. 2010

J Phys Ther Sci

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Abstract. [Purpose] The aim of the current study was to investigate whether or not motor sequential learning leads a reduction in the temporal processing in terms of the onset of muscle activation and movement initiation as well as final motor response in a serial reaction time (SRT) task.[Subjects] We recruited 24 healthy subjects with no history of neurological or orthopedic problems. The subjects were randomly divided into a training group and a control group. [Methods] In response to five visual stimuli, subjects were instructed to move or press a moveable arm/button, and to return it toward the central position as quickly as possible, according to the corresponding stimuli. Kinetic parameters (i.e. onset of muscle activation and movement initiation, reaction time) were analyzed before and after training/controlled sessions over two consecutive days for each group.[Results] Following motor sequential learning, the temporal processing between the visual stimuli and each of three predetermined onsets were significantly declined. There were no significant changes in the control group.[Conclusion] The reduction in the total process to final motor response resulting from motor sequential learning may be attributed to rapid onset of muscle activation and movement initiation. Furthermore, neuromuscular adaptation played an important role in accomplishing rapid temporal processing after motor sequential learning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence of Neuromuscular Adaptation According to Motor Sequential Learning in the Serial Reaction Time Task

Kwon¹,

Chang

Lee

et al. 2010

J Phys Ther Sci

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“…In general, sequential motor tasks include two components: the acquisition of the order of the elements in the sequence, and the ability to perform fast and accurately each element of the sequence. Three experimental paradigms have been proposed to investigate sequential learning: 1) the serial reaction time task (SRTT), in which the acquisition of the sequence order is inferred from a reduction in response time (Goedert and Willingham 2002), 2) the measurement of improvement in speed and accuracy (as in our motor task) of a previously learned sequence; this task emphasizes acquisition of the sequence elements rather than acquisition of sequence order (Walker et al 2003(Walker et al 2002; 3) the explicit learning of motor sequence, in which the two components of sequence learning can be quantified separately Moisello et al 2009). …”

Section: Sequential Order Learning Versus Improvement Of the Sequencementioning

confidence: 99%

Motor Learning Without Doing: Trial-by-Trial Improvement in Motor Performance During Mental Training

Gentili

Han²,

Schweighofer

et al. 2010

Journal of Neurophysiology

191

146

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. Although there is converging experimental and clinical evidences suggesting that mental training with motor imagery can improve motor performance, it is unclear how humans can learn movements through mental training despite the lack of sensory feedback from the body and the environment. In a first experiment, we measured the trial-by-trial decrease in durations of executed movements (physical training group) and mentally simulated movements (motor-imagery training group), by means of training on a multiple-target arm-pointing task requiring high accuracy and speed. Movement durations were significantly lower in posttest compared with pretest after both physical and motor-imagery training. Although both the posttraining performance and the rate of learning were smaller in motor-imagery training group than in physical training group, the change in movement duration and the asymptotic movement duration after a hypothetical large number of trials were identical. The two control groups (eye-movement training and rest groups) did not show change in movement duration. In the second experiment, additional kinematic analyses revealed that arm movements were straighter and faster both immediately and 24 h after physical and motor-imagery training. No such improvements were observed in the eye-movement training group. Our results suggest that the brain uses state estimation, provided by internal forward model predictions, to improve motor performance during mental training. Furthermore, our results suggest that mental practice can, at least in young healthy subjects and if given after a short bout of physical practice, be successfully substituted to physical practice to improve motor performance.

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“…First, in previous studies, chunk or statistical learning was measured by response time. We examined two phases of response time: reaction time (RT), which reflects mental processing (Sternberg, 1969), and movement time (MT), which characterizes the movement itself (Moisello et al, 2009). It is essential to understand whether chunk or statistical learning found in previous studies was attributed to RT and/or MT patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into statistical learning and chunk learning in implicit sequence acquisition

Clark

2016

Psychon Bull Rev

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Implicit sequence learning is ubiquitous in our daily life. However, it is unclear whether the initial acquisition of sequences results from learning to chunk items (i.e., chunk learning) or learning the underlying statistical regularities (i.e., statistical learning). By grouping responses with or without a distinct chunk or statistical structure into segments and comparing these responses, previous studies have demonstrated both chunk and statistical learning. However, few studies have considered the response sequence as a whole and examined the temporal dependency of the entire sequence, where the temporal dependencies could disclose the internal representations of chunk and statistical learning. Participants performed a serial reaction time (SRT) task under different stimulus interval conditions. We found that sequence learning reflected by reaction time (RT) rather than motor improvements represented by movement time (MT). The temporal dependency of RT and MT revealed that both RT and MT displayed recursive patterns caused by biomechanical effects of response locations and foot transitions. Chunking was noticeable only in the presence of the recurring RT or MT but vanished after the recursive component was removed, implying that chunk formation may result from biomechanical constraints rather than learning itself. In addition, we observed notable first-order autocorrelations in RT. This trial-to-trial association enhanced as learning progressed regardless of stimulus intervals, reflecting the internal cognitive representation of the first-order stimulus contingencies. Our results suggest that initial acquisition of implicit sequences may arise from first-order statistical learning rather than chunk learning.

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The serial reaction time task revisited: a study on motor sequence learning with an arm-reaching task

Cited by 84 publications

References 22 publications

Evidence of Neuromuscular Adaptation According to Motor Sequential Learning in the Serial Reaction Time Task

Evidence of Neuromuscular Adaptation According to Motor Sequential Learning in the Serial Reaction Time Task

Motor Learning Without Doing: Trial-by-Trial Improvement in Motor Performance During Mental Training

New insights into statistical learning and chunk learning in implicit sequence acquisition

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