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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2002): |
Behavioural and electrophysiological correlates of visuomotor learning during a visual search task.
Full Abstract
Visuomotor association learning involves learning specific motor responses to arbitrary cues, and is dependent on a distributed and highly flexible network in the brain. We investigated the behavioural and electrophysiological correlates of arbitrary visuomotor learning in 20 normal participants. An experimental group learned an arbitrary association between a visual stimulus and a motor response during a training block. Their performance was compared with that of untrained controls on a subsequent visual discrimination task in which the learned association was a crucial element. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from the scalp of each participant during learning and discrimination blocks. Reaction times to stimuli in the discrimination task were significantly faster in the trained group compared to controls. There was a corresponding difference in the ERP waveforms recorded during the task, with larger P3b amplitude for the trained group over midline and centroparietal scalp areas. A latency difference in P3b was also observed for trained targets compared to distractors. RTs during the training block decreased in a manner consistent with learning effects. We conclude that training of a visuomotor association facilitates subsequent performance on a related task, and that the waveform correlates found here may reflect the involvement of parts of the network underlying arbitrary association mapping.Copyright 2003 Elsevier Science B.V.
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Author information
Author/s: Roche, Richard A P (RA); O'Mara, Shane M (SM);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Brain research. Cognitive brain research (Brain Res Cogn Brain Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Jan; vol 15 (issue 2) : pp 127-36
Dates: Created 2002/11/13; Completed 2003/03/21; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12429365, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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