scholarly journals Neural Substrates of Contextual Interference during Motor Learning Support a Model of Active Preparation

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1854-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Cross ◽  
Paul J. Schmitt ◽  
Scott T. Grafton
Keyword(s):  
Response Selection ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Block Group ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Random Group ◽  
Skill Retention ◽  
Practice Schedule ◽  
Left Hand

When individuals acquire new skills, initial performance is typically better and tasks are judged to be easier when the tasks are segregated and practiced by block, compared to when different tasks are randomly intermixed in practice. However, subsequent skill retention is better for a randomly practiced group, an effect known as contextual interference (CI). The present study examined the neural substrates of CI using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Individuals learned a set of three 4-element sequences with the left hand according to a block or random practice schedule. Behavioral retest for skill retention confirmed the presence of a typical CI effect with the random group outperforming the block group. Using a go/no-go fMRI paradigm, sequence preparation during the premovement study period was separated from movement execution. Imaging data for the two groups were compared for the first 1/3 and final 1/3 of training trials. Toward the end of training, behavioral performance between the two groups was similar, although the random group would later display a performance advantage on retention testing. During study time, the random group showed greater activity in sensorimotor and premotor regions compared to the block group. These areas are associated with motor preparation, sequencing, and response selection. This pattern of recruitment is consistent with the hypothesis that CI benefits in a sequencing task are due to improved capacity to actively prepare motor responses.

Contextual Interference in Motor Learning: Dissociated Effects Due to the Nature of Task Variations

1992 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D. Lee ◽  
Gabriele Wulf ◽  
Richard A. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Relative Timing ◽  
Practice Session ◽  
Random Group ◽  
Practice Schedule ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Practice Condition ◽  
Enhanced Learning ◽  
Timing Structure

The contextual interference effect in motor learning refers to the interference that results from practising a task within the concept of other tasks in a practice session. Several studies have shown that practice under conditions of high contextual interference (i.e. with a random practice order) degrades performance during acquisition trials, compared to low contextual interference conditions (i.e. with a blocked order, where practice is completed on one task before practice on another task is undertaken). In contrast to acquisition performance, random practice usually leads to more effective learning than blocked practice, as measured by retention and transfer tests. One of the hypotheses regarding the effect suggests that a random practice schedule induces more extensive planning operations during practice than a blocked practice condition. If so, then differences between these two conditions should emerge to the degree that the set of tasks requires complete reconstruction of these planning operations on each trial. To address this issue, we compared four groups of subjects: a blocked and random group that practised three timing tasks that shared a common characteristic (same relative timing), and a blocked and random group that practised three tasks that each had different relative timing structures. Subjects practised these tasks on each of two days, with a retention test and two transfer tests that required either a relative timing structure that had been practised previously or had not previously been practised. No random/ blocked differences occurred regardless of the relative timing of the patterns during acquisition or retention. However, for both transfer tests, random practice enhanced learning only for the group that had practised with tasks that each had different relative timing during acquisition. Implications of these results for an explanation of contextual interference are discussed.

Is the Contextual Interference Effect Generalizable to Computer Games?

1997 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Shewokis
Keyword(s):  
Computer Games ◽  
Sport Management ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Practice Schedule ◽  
Winter Olympics ◽  
Random Schedule ◽  
Multiple Tasks

The benefits of learning multiple tasks under an unstructured practice schedule have been extensively demonstrated in the laboratory. The purpose of the present study was to test contextual interference effects in a nonlaboratory setting using computer games as tasks. Undergraduate kinesiology and sport management majors ( N=19) played a computer game simulating the events of the winter Olympics. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Blocked or Random practice schedule, practicing 36 trials of three events. Delayed retention and transfer tests were performed after a 48-hr. retention interval. The dependent variable was time to complete an event. During transfer, participants in the Random schedule ( M = 248 sec.) were significantly faster than Blocked ( M = 263 sec.) participants. Results support and extend previous contextual interference findings. Transfer was facilitated for participants who learned the events in a Random practice order. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of task characteristics on learning.

scholarly journals Common Neural Substrates for Response Selection across Modalities and Mapping Paradigms

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1080-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhong Jiang ◽  
Nancy Kanwisher
Keyword(s):  
Response Selection ◽  
Target Position ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Human Information Processing ◽  
Central Process ◽  
Response Mapping ◽  
Manual Task ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Auditory Tasks

In many situations, people can only compute one stimulus-to-response mapping at a time, suggesting that response selection constitutes a “central processing bottleneck” in human information processing. Using fMRI, we tested whether common or distinct brain regions were involved in response selection across visual and auditory inputs, and across spatial and nonspatial mapping rules. We isolated brain regions involved in response selection by comparing two conditions that were identical in perceptual input and motor output, but differed in the complexity of the mapping rule. In the visual—manual task of Experiment 1, four vertical lines were positioned from left to right, and subjects pressed one of four keys to report which line was unique in length. In the auditory—manual task of Experiment 2, four tones were presented in succession, and subjects pressed one of four keys to report which tone was unique in duration. For both visual and auditory tasks, the mapping between target position and key position was either spatially compatible or incompatible. In the verbal task of Experiment 3, subjects used nonspatial mappings that were either compatible (“same” if colors matched; “different” if they mismatched) or incompatible (the opposite). Extensive activation overlap was observed across all three experiments for incompatible versus compatible mapping in bilateral parietal and frontal regions. Our results indicate that common neural substrates are involved in response selection across input modalities and across spatial and nonspatial domains of stimulus-to-response mapping, consistent with behavioral evidence that response selection is a central process.

When Repetition Isn’t the Best Practice Strategy: Effects of Blocked and Random Practice Schedules

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Stambaugh
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Beginning Band ◽  
Random Group ◽  
Practice Schedules ◽  
Band Students ◽  
Retention Testing ◽  
Research Assumptions ◽  
Accuracy Speed

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of blocked and random practice schedules on the performance accuracy, speed, temporal evenness, and attitude of beginning band students in a group instructional setting. The research assumptions were based on the contextual interference hypothesis, which predicts that a blocked practice order (low contextual interference) leads to superior performance immediately following practice but that a random practice order (high contextual interference) supports superior performance at delayed retention testing. Beginning clarinet students ( N = 41) completed three practice sessions and one retention testing session, performing three seven-pitch exercises. At the end of practice, no significant differences were found between blocked and random practice groups for accuracy, speed, or temporal evenness. At retention, the random group performed significantly faster than the blocked group, F(1, 38) = 24.953, p < .001, η2 = .92, and the blocked group performed significantly slower than it did at the end of practice ( p < .001). No significant differences were found between groups for transfer tasks or for attitude toward practice.

scholarly journals Effects of genetic variability of CYP2D6 on neural substrates of sustained attention during on-task activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Viviani ◽  
Irene Messina ◽  
Julia E. Bosch ◽  
Lisa Dommes ◽  
Anna Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Poor Metabolizers ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Simple Task ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Attentional Tasks

Abstract The polymorphic drug-metabolizing enzyme CYP2D6, which is responsible for the metabolism of most psychoactive compounds, is expressed not only in the liver, but also in the brain. The effects of its marked genetic polymorphism on the individual capacity to metabolize drugs are well known, but its role in metabolism of neural substrates affecting behavior personality or cognition, suggested by its CNS expression, is a long-standing unresolved issue. To verify earlier findings suggesting a potential effect on attentional processes, we collected functional imaging data, while N = 415 participants performed a simple task in which the reward for correct responses varied. CYP2D6 allelic variants predicting higher levels of enzymatic activity level were positively associated with cortical activity in occipito-parietal areas as well as in a right lateralized network known to be activated by spatial attentional tasks. Reward-related modulation of activity in cortical areas was more pronounced in poor metabolizers. In conjunction with effects on reaction times, our findings provide evidence for reduced cognitive efficiency in rapid metabolizers compared to poor metabolizers in on-task attentional processes manifested through differential recruitment of a specific neural substrate.

scholarly journals Paving the Way for Speech: Voice-Training-Induced Plasticity in Chronic Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech—Three Single Cases

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Jungblut ◽  
Walter Huber ◽  
Christiane Mais ◽  
Ralph Schnitker
Keyword(s):  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Voice Training ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
The Way

Difficulties with temporal coordination or sequencing of speech movements are frequently reported in aphasia patients with concomitant apraxia of speech (AOS). Our major objective was to investigate the effects of specific rhythmic-melodic voice training on brain activation of those patients. Three patients with severe chronic nonfluent aphasia and AOS were included in this study. Before and after therapy, patients underwent the same fMRI procedure as 30 healthy control subjects in our prestudy, which investigated the neural substrates of sung vowel changes in untrained rhythm sequences. A main finding was that post-minus pretreatment imaging data yielded significant perilesional activations in all patients for example, in the left superior temporal gyrus, whereas the reverse subtraction revealed either no significant activation or right hemisphere activation. Likewise, pre- and posttreatment assessments of patients’ vocal rhythm production, language, and speech motor performance yielded significant improvements for all patients. Our results suggest that changes in brain activation due to the applied training might indicate specific processes of reorganization, for example, improved temporal sequencing of sublexical speech components. In this context, a training that focuses on rhythmic singing with differently demanding complexity levels as concerns motor and cognitive capabilities seems to support paving the way for speech.

scholarly journals The Contextual Interference Effect on Sport-Specific Motor Learning in Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina G.T.X. de Souza ◽  
Marcelo E.S. Nunes ◽  
Umberto C. Corrêa ◽  
Suely dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Random Group ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Similar Performance ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Practice Time

AbstractPurpose. The aim of this study was to investigate the contextual interference effect on learning a sport-related task in older adults. Methods. We selected 40 physically active individuals aged 65-80 years that were randomly divided into random and blocked practice groups. The task comprised throwing a bocce ball to three targets at distances of 2, 4 and 6 m. Practice consisted of 120 trials divided into two sessions. Two retention tests at a distance of 4 m were conducted (post-10 min and 24 h) and then two transfer tests with a target at 5 m (post-24 h) were performed with the preferred and non-preferred hand. Task performance and movement patterns were measured. Results. Comparisons between the practice groups revealed no contextual interference effect (p > 0.05); the random group showed improved performance during practice (p < 0.05) but the blocked group did not. Overall, the results showed similar performance between the groups in the retention and transfer tests, although it was inferred that the blocked group made insufficient corrective adjustments. Conclusions. It was concluded that contextual interference did not affect the learning of a sport-based skill in older adults. Nonetheless, it can be argued that the parameter modifications may have negatively influenced learning this task by the practice groups and/or they may have required more practice time.

scholarly journals Neural Substrates of Practice Structure That Support Future Off-Line Learning

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 2462-2476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas F. Wymbs ◽  
Scott T. Grafton
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Practice Schedule ◽  
Random Schedule ◽  
Subcortical Regions ◽  
Equivalent Motor

Off-line learning is facilitated when motor skills are acquired under a random practice schedule and retention suffers when a similar set of motor skills are practiced under a blocked schedule. The current study identified the neural correlates of a random training schedule while participants learned a set of four-element finger sequences using their nondominant hand during functional magnetic resonance imaging. A go/no go task was used to separately probe brain areas supporting sequence preparation and production. By the end of training, the random practice schedule, relative to the block schedule, recruited a broad premotor–parietal network as well as sensorimotor and subcortical regions during both preparation and production trials, despite equivalent motor performance. Longitudinal analysis demonstrated that preparation-related activity under a random schedule remained stable or increased over time. The blocked schedule showed the opposite pattern. Across individual subjects, successful skill retention was correlated with greater activity at the end of training in the ipsilateral left motor cortex, for both preparation and production. This is consistent with recent evidence that attributes off-line learning to training-related processing within primary motor cortex. These results reflect the importance of an overlooked aspect of motor skill learning. Specifically, how trials are organized during training—with a random schedule—provides an effective basis for the formation of enduring motor memories, through enhanced engagement of core regions involved in the active preparation and implementation of motor programs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document