Topics and Speakers John W. Krakauer, MD
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Synopsis
Motor learning occurs at such a basic level that it eludes conscious detection. Yet even during the simplest motor act, such as walking or picking up an object, the human brain executes a complex series of computations inaccessible to even the most advanced robot. In this lecture, Dr John W. Krakauer explores the neuroscience of motor learning, including discussions of recent experiments with both healthy and clinical subjects.
To clarify the concepts discussed in this lecture, Dr Krakauer first describes the four overlapping categories of motor learning: practice, sequence learning, visuomotor adaption, and learning of dynamics. As he says, scientists now are trying to determine how exactly practice makes perfect, how the brain learns the physical properties of its own body, and how the visual system coordinates with the motor system.
New studies are helping scientists better understand what regions of the brain are involved across the entire time course of learning. Functional brain imaging data has shown unexpected bilateral activation of brain regions. Further experiments aim at breaking down the series of computations the brain undergoes when executing a simple motor act. As Dr Krakauer describes, simply reaching out one's hand involves translating a vast series of physical and visual properties into action: Extrinsic, vectorial coordinates seen in the visuomotor system must be transformed first into proprioceptive coordinates and then into intrinsic muscle coordinates.
In discussing these experiments, Dr Krakauer delves into the emerging science of brain plasticity. Indeed, the study of how the brain rewires and regrows neurons after injury or to facilitate learning is one of the most exciting frontiers of neuroscience.
