In:
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Frontiers Media SA, Vol. 18 ( 2024-9-26)
Abstract:
An essential aspect of motor learning is generalizing procedural knowledge to facilitate skill acquisition across diverse conditions. Here, we examined the development of generalized motor learning during initial practice-dependent learning, and how distinct components of learning are consolidated over longer timescales during wakefulness or sleep. In the first experiment, a group of young healthy volunteers engaged in a novel motor sequence task over 36 h in a two-arm experimental design (either morning-evening-morning, or evening-morning-evening) aimed at controlling for circadian confounders. The findings unveiled an immediate, rapid generalization of sequential learning, accompanied by an additional long-timescale performance gain. Sleep modulated accuracy, but not speed, above and beyond equivalent wake intervals. To further elucidate the role of sleep across ages and under neurodegenerative disorders, a second experiment utilized the same task in a group of early-stage, drug-naïve individuals with Parkinson’s disease and in healthy individuals of comparable age. Participants with Parkinson’s disease exhibited comparable performance to their healthy age-matched group with the exception of reduced performance in recalling motor sequences, revealing a disease-related cognitive shortfall. In line with the results found in young subjects, both groups exhibited improved accuracy, but not speed, following a night of sleep. This result emphasizes the role of sleep in skill acquisition and provides a potential framework for deeper investigation of the intricate relationship between sleep, aging, Parkinson’s disease, and motor learning.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1662-5153
DOI:
10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696
DOI:
10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696.s001
DOI:
10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696.s002
DOI:
10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1466696.s003
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
Frontiers Media SA
Publication Date:
2024
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2452960-6
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