Visuomotor adaptation is often driven by error-based (EB) learning in which signed errors update motor commands. There are, however, visuomotor tasks where signed errors are unavailable or cannot be mapped onto appropriate motor command changes, rendering EB learning ineffective; and yet, healthy subjects can learn in these EB learning-free conditions. While EB learning depends on cerebellar integrity, the neural bases of EB-independent learning are poorly understood. As basal ganglia are involved in learning mechanisms that are independent of signed error feedback, here we tested whether patients with basal ganglia lesions, including those with Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, would show impairments in a visuomotor learning task that prevents the use of EB learning. We employed two visuomotor throwing tasks that were similar, but were profoundly different in the resulting visual feedback. This difference was implemented through the introduction of either a lateral displacement of the visual field via a wedge prism (EB learning) or a horizontal reversal of the visual field via a dove prism (non-EB learning). Our results show that patients with basal ganglia degeneration had normal EB learning in the wedge prism task, but were profoundly impaired in the reversing prism task that does not depend on the signed error signal feedback. These results represent the first evidence that human visuomotor learning in the absence of EB feedback depends on the integrity of the basal ganglia.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.