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Trends in Cognitive Sciences Sep 2022Mirror neurons (MNs) were first described in a seminal paper in 1992 as a class of monkey premotor cells discharging during both action execution and observation.... (Review)
Review
Mirror neurons (MNs) were first described in a seminal paper in 1992 as a class of monkey premotor cells discharging during both action execution and observation. Despite their debated origin and function, recent studies in several species, from birds to humans, revealed that beyond MNs properly so called, a variety of cell types distributed among multiple motor, sensory, and emotional brain areas form a 'mirror mechanism' more complex and flexible than originally thought, which has an evolutionarily conserved role in social interaction. Here, we trace the current limits and envisage the future trends of this discovery, showing that it inspired translational research and the development of new neurorehabilitation approaches, and constitutes a point of no return in social and affective neuroscience.
Topics: Brain; Brain Mapping; Humans; Mirror Neurons; Motor Cortex; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 35803832
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.003 -
Parkinsonism & Related Disorders May 2019A growing body of literature has reported the effects of dual tasks on gait performance in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
A growing body of literature has reported the effects of dual tasks on gait performance in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the existing literature and quantify the overall influence of dual tasks on gait performance in PD. A thorough literature search was conducted, and 19 studies met the stringent inclusion criteria. Two moderator variable analyses examined the dual-task effect by: (a) mean single-task gait speed for each study (≥1.1 m/s or < 1.1 m/s), and (b) the type of dual task (arithmetic, language, memory, and motor). Three main findings were revealed by a random effects model analysis. First, a strong negative effect of dual tasks on walking performance (SMD = -0.68) confirmed that gait performance is adversely affected by dual tasks in people with PD. Second, the significant negative effect of dual tasks is present regardless of the mean level of single-task gait speed in a study. Third, dual-task walking speed deteriorates regardless of the type of dual task. Together, these results confirm that dual tasks severely affect walking performances in people with PD.
Topics: Attention; Gait; Humans; Parkinson Disease; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Walking
PubMed: 30594454
DOI: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2018.12.012 -
Current Topics in Behavioral... 2015An intricate interplay between circadian and sleep-wake homeostatic processes regulate cognitive performance on specific tasks, and individual differences in circadian... (Review)
Review
An intricate interplay between circadian and sleep-wake homeostatic processes regulate cognitive performance on specific tasks, and individual differences in circadian preference and sleep pressure may contribute to individual differences in distinct neurocognitive functions. Attentional performance appears to be particularly sensitive to time of day modulations and the effects of sleep deprivation. Consistent with the notion that the neuromodulator, adenosine , plays an important role in regulating sleep pressure, pharmacologic and genetic data in animals and humans demonstrate that differences in adenosinergic tone affect sleepiness, arousal and vigilant attention in rested and sleep-deprived states. Caffeine--the most often consumed stimulant in the world--blocks adenosine receptors and normally attenuates the consequences of sleep deprivation on arousal, vigilance, and attention. Nevertheless, caffeine cannot substitute for sleep, and is virtually ineffective in mitigating the impact of severe sleep loss on higher-order cognitive functions. Thus, the available evidence suggests that adenosinergic mechanisms, in particular adenosine A2A receptor-mediated signal transduction, contribute to waking-induced impairments of attentional processes, whereas additional mechanisms must be involved in higher-order cognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Future investigations should further clarify the exact types of cognitive processes affected by inappropriate sleep. This research will aid in the quest to better understand the role of different brain systems (e.g., adenosine and adenosine receptors) in regulating sleep, and sleep-related subjective state, and cognitive processes. Furthermore, it will provide more detail on the underlying mechanisms of the detrimental effects of extended wakefulness, as well as lead to the development of effective, evidence-based countermeasures against the health consequences of circadian misalignment and chronic sleep restriction.
Topics: Adenosine; Attention; Caffeine; Humans; Neurosciences; Pharmacogenetics; Psychomotor Performance; Sleep; Sleep Deprivation
PubMed: 24549722
DOI: 10.1007/7854_2014_274 -
European Journal of Sport Science Feb 2017Scientists who have examined the gaze strategies employed by athletes have determined that longer quiet eye (QE) durations (QED) are characteristic of skilled compared... (Review)
Review
Scientists who have examined the gaze strategies employed by athletes have determined that longer quiet eye (QE) durations (QED) are characteristic of skilled compared to less-skilled performers. However, the cognitive mechanisms of the QE and, specifically, how the QED affects performance are not yet fully understood. We review research that has examined the functional mechanism underlying QE and discuss the neural networks that may be involved. We also highlight the limitations surrounding QE measurement and its definition and propose future research directions to address these shortcomings. Investigations into the behavioural and neural mechanisms of QE will aid the understanding of the perceptual and cognitive processes underlying expert performance and the factors that change as expertise develops.
Topics: Athletic Performance; Attention; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Visual Perception
PubMed: 26356536
DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2015.1075595 -
Neuron Nov 2016The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our... (Review)
Review
The relationship between the brain and the environment is flexible, forming the foundation for our ability to learn. Here we review the current state of our understanding of the modifications in the sensorimotor pathway related to sensorimotor learning. We divide the process into three hierarchical levels with distinct goals: (1) sensory perceptual learning, (2) sensorimotor associative learning, and (3) motor skill learning. Perceptual learning optimizes the representations of important sensory stimuli. Associative learning and the initial phase of motor skill learning are ensured by feedback-based mechanisms that permit trial-and-error learning. The later phase of motor skill learning may primarily involve feedback-independent mechanisms operating under the classic Hebbian rule. With these changes under distinct constraints and mechanisms, sensorimotor learning establishes dedicated circuitry for the reproduction of stereotyped neural activity patterns and behavior.
Topics: Animals; Association Learning; Brain; Humans; Learning; Models, Neurological; Motor Skills; Perception; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 27883902
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.10.029 -
Journal of Neuroengineering and... Nov 2020Our ability to acquire, refine and adapt skilled limb movements is a hallmark of human motor learning that allows us to successfully perform many daily activities. The...
BACKGROUND
Our ability to acquire, refine and adapt skilled limb movements is a hallmark of human motor learning that allows us to successfully perform many daily activities. The capacity to acquire, refine and adapt other features of motor performance, such as visual search, eye-hand coordination and visuomotor decisions, may also contribute to motor learning. However, the extent to which refinements of multiple behavioral features and their underlying neural processes independently contribute to motor learning remains unknown. In the current study, we used an ethological approach to test the hypothesis that practice-related refinements of multiple behavioral features would be independently predictive of motor learning.
METHODS
Eighteen healthy, young adults used an upper-limb robot with eye-tracking to practice six trials of a continuous, visuomotor task once a week for six consecutive weeks. Participants used virtual paddles to hit away 200 "Targets" and avoid hitting 100 "Distractors" that continuously moved towards them from the back of the workspace. Motor learning was inferred from trial-by-trial acquisition and week-by-week retention of improvements on two measures of task performance related to motor execution and motor inhibition. Adaptations involving underlying neural processes were inferred from trial-by-trial acquisition and week-by-week retention of refinements on measures of skilled limb movement, visual search, eye-hand coordination and visuomotor decisions. We tested our hypothesis by quantifying the extent to which refinements on measures of multiple behavioral features (predictors) were independently predictive of improvements on our two measures of task performance (outcomes) after removing all shared variance between predictors.
RESULTS
We found that refinements on measures of skilled limb movement, visual search and eye-hand coordination were independently predictive of improvements on our measure of task performance related to motor execution. In contrast, only refinements of eye-hand coordination were independently predictive of improvements on our measure of task performance related to motor inhibition.
CONCLUSION
Our results provide indirect evidence that refinements involving multiple, neural processes may independently contribute to motor learning, and distinct neural processes may underlie improvements in task performance related to motor execution and motor inhibition. This also suggests that refinements involving multiple, neural processes may contribute to motor recovery after stroke, and rehabilitation interventions should be designed to produce refinements of all behavioral features that may contribute to motor recovery.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Adult; Eye Movements; Female; Humans; Learning; Male; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Young Adult
PubMed: 33203416
DOI: 10.1186/s12984-020-00766-3 -
Trends in Neurosciences Nov 2018Although the primate posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been largely associated with space, attention, and action-related processing, a growing number of studies have... (Review)
Review
Although the primate posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been largely associated with space, attention, and action-related processing, a growing number of studies have reported the direct representation of a diverse array of action-independent nonspatial visual information in the PPC during both perception and visual working memory. By describing the distinctions and the close interactions of visual representation with space, attention, and action-related processing in the PPC, here I propose that we may understand these diverse PPC functions together through the unique contribution of the PPC to adaptive visual processing and form a more integrated and structured view of the role of the PPC in vision, cognition, and action.
Topics: Animals; Attention; Brain Mapping; Cognition; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Psychomotor Performance; Visual Perception
PubMed: 30115412
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.07.012 -
Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements... 2018Primary writing tremor (PWT) is a rare condition; tremor occurs primarily while writing rather than during other tasks.
BACKGROUND
Primary writing tremor (PWT) is a rare condition; tremor occurs primarily while writing rather than during other tasks.
PHENOMENOLOGY SHOWN
We illustrate the phenomenology of PWT and point out associated subtle dystonic posturing on neurological examination.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE
PWT is a tremor disorder that shares clinical features with both dystonia and essential tremor.
Topics: Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychomotor Performance; Tremor; Writing
PubMed: 30402337
DOI: 10.7916/D8T740ZZ -
Scientific Reports Jul 2023People show vast variability in skill performance and learning. What determines a person's individual performance and learning ability? In this study we explored the...
People show vast variability in skill performance and learning. What determines a person's individual performance and learning ability? In this study we explored the possibility to predict participants' future performance and learning, based on their behavior during initial skill acquisition. We recruited a large online multi-session sample of participants performing a sequential tapping skill learning task. We used machine learning to predict future performance and learning from raw data acquired during initial skill acquisition, and from engineered features calculated from the raw data. Strong correlations were observed between initial and final performance, and individual learning was not predicted. While canonical experimental tasks developed and selected to detect average effects may constrain insights regarding individual variability, development of novel tasks may shed light on the underlying mechanism of individual skill learning, relevant for real-life scenarios.
Topics: Humans; Motor Skills; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 37443195
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38231-5 -
Journal of Vision Jul 2023When steering a trajectory, we direct our gaze to locations (1-3 s ahead) that we want to steer through. How and why are these active gaze patterns conducive to...
When steering a trajectory, we direct our gaze to locations (1-3 s ahead) that we want to steer through. How and why are these active gaze patterns conducive to successful steering? While various sources of visual information have been identified that could support steering control, the role of stereotypical gaze patterns during steering remains unclear. Here, experimental and computational approaches are combined to investigate a possible direct connection between gaze and steering: Is there enough information in gaze direction that it could be used in isolation to steer through a series of waypoints? For this, we test steering models using waypoints supplied from human gaze data, as well as waypoints specified by optical features of the environment. Steering-by-gaze was modeled using a "pure-pursuit" controller (computing a circular trajectory toward a steering point), or a simple "proportional" controller (yaw-rate set proportional to the visual angle of the steering point). Both controllers produced successful steering when using human gaze data as the input. The models generalized using the same parameters across two scenarios: (a) steering through a slalom of three visible waypoints located within lane boundaries and (b) steering a series of connected S bends comprising visible waypoints without a visible road. While the trajectories on average broadly matched those generated by humans, the differences in individual trajectories were not captured by the models. We suggest that "looking where we are going" provides useful information and that this can often be adequate to guide steering. Capturing variation in human steering responses, however, likely requires more sophisticated models or additional sensory information.
Topics: Humans; Fixation, Ocular; Eye Movements; Automobile Driving; Vision, Ocular; Psychomotor Performance
PubMed: 37477935
DOI: 10.1167/jov.23.7.12