CRCNS US-Japan Research Proposal: A computational neuroscience approach to skill acquisition and transfer from visuo-haptic VR to the real-world

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The ability to learn motor skills allows people to perform critical activities of daily life (walking, dressing, cooking, etc.). It also enables people to engage in social and artistic endeavors and for some to attain virtuoso levels of performance. Understanding the changes that occur in the brain as we learn a motor skill and how we might develop training programs to accelerate such learning, would have impact for many areas, including skill acquisition in robotic training and human-robot interaction, motor skill re-learning in limb amputees, and rehabilitation of motor disorders such as dystonia and gait disorders.Studies of motor learning are often restricted to highly simplified tasks; few studies have tried to study complex skill learning. The current research project aims to develop a neurobehavioral model of complex skill learning by integrating information from both brain activity and body movement in real time as participants learn real-world activities. The second aim studies ways to enhance learning of complex motor skills. The investigators have developed new visuo-haptic virtual reality (VR) systems that allow detailed interaction with virtual objects, complete with force feedback, to provide a convincing simulation of the real-world but with finer experimental control. This creative VR environment also can simulate changes in the gravitational field which allows using the neurobehavioral model to predict and test human behavior in non-standard environments, such as in space or in underwater applications. Such research is expected to be highly accessible and engaging for the broader public, and the researchers have proposed a range of outreach plans to enhance participation in STEM among groups typically under-represented in these sciences. A companion project is being funded by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan (NICT).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.