| Abstract No.: | B-D2129 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | RETENTION OF VISUOMOTOR ADAPTATION OVER EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | 1 Manvir K. Gill; 1 Ian M.J. Budge; 1 Jason L. Neva*; 1 Denise Y.P. Henriques;
1 York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
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| Content: | Objectives: Learning new motor skills is part of our everyday lives. Numerous studies have shown that the brain can adapt to both altered visual feedback of the hand and force perturbations while performing reaching movements to visual targets. These studies show that we retain this learning and reproduce improved performance a day later. It has also been shown that the brain can retain an adaptation to a force perturbation for up to 5 months (Shadmehr & Brashers-Krug, 1997). However, it is unclear whether a visuomotor adaptation can be retained for extended periods of time. In the present study, we investigate how long a visuomotor adaptation can be retained.
Materials & Methods: Participants performed out and back reaching movements from a central target to peripheral targets displayed on a vertical screen (trials = 200) in the absence of visual feedback about hand position. During the sequence of trials, participants adapted without being aware of a 45° counter-clockwise altered visual feedback of the hand. Participants were then re-tested on the same altered visual feedback following one of three time lapses: 6-8 weeks, 2-3 months, and 5-6 months.
Results: Preliminary results show that participants retained a substantial amount of visuomotor adaptation over time. We found that deviations in reaching were smaller when participants performed the same task 6-8 weeks and 2-3 months after the first visuomotor adaptation session. The amount of retention seems to decay from 6-8 weeks (63% retention compared to saturation of initial adaptation) to 2-3 months (36%).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the brain is able to retain this visuomotor adaptation for reaching movements over significant periods of time. In addition, the amount of retention seems to decay over time without exposure to the altered visual feedback. This implies that participants will retain a certain amount of visuomotor adaptation after 5-6 months but will likely have a lower amount of retention. We are currently collecting data for the 5-6 month group.
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