Warburton, M. orcid.org/0000-0001-5309-4424, Campagnoli, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-9794-4475, Mon-Williams, M. orcid.org/0000-0001-7595-8545 et al. (2 more authors) (2025) Visuomotor Memory Is Not Bound to Visual Motion. The Journal of Neuroscience, 45 (17). e1884242025. ISSN 0270-6474
Abstract
The motor system adapts its output in response to experienced errors to maintain effective movement in a dynamic environment. This learning is thought to utilize sensory prediction errors, the discrepancy between predicted and observed sensory feedback, to update internal models that map motor outputs to sensory states. However, it remains unclear what sensory information is relevant (e.g., the extent to which sensory predictions depend on visual feedback features). We explored this topic by measuring the transfer of visuomotor adaptation across two contexts where input movements created visual motion in opposite directions by either (1) translating a cursor across a static environment or (2) causing the environment to move toward a static cursor (272 participants: 94 male, 175 female). We hypothesized that this difference in visual feedback should engage distinct internal models, resulting in poor transfer of learning between contexts. Instead, we found nearly complete transfer of learning across contexts, with evidence that the motor memory was bound to the planned displacement of the hand rather than visual features of the task space. Our results suggest that internal model adaptation is not tied to the exact nature of the sensory feedback that results from movement. Instead, adaptation relies on representations of planned movements, allowing a common internal model to be employed across different visual contexts.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 Warburton et al. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | generalization; learning; video games; visuomotor adaptation |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BBSRC (Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council) BB/X008428/1 EU - European Union 10039307 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 30 Apr 2025 08:28 |
Last Modified: | 30 Apr 2025 08:28 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Society for Neuroscience |
Identification Number: | 10.1523/jneurosci.1884-24.2025 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:225988 |
Download
Filename: Visuomotor memory is not bound to visual motion.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0