LEARNING AND ADAPTATION OF MULTIJOINT ARM MOVEMENTS

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）：本研究旨在 在理解（a）获取新的 协调运动和（B）适应新的机械 环境. 这两个过程都需要长期的行为变化 由感觉运动经验引起的。 然而，在学习新的 运动可能需要高强度的训练和高度集中的注意力， 自适应可以自发地发生而不需要明确的指令。 该提案的中心目标是建立一个统一的实验和 运动学习和适应分析的理论框架， 基于工作假设，这两种努力都可以通过 中枢神经系统结合了几个简单模块的操作， 控制 因此，调查分为三组， 实验： (1)首先，将使用机械扰动来估计 受试者保持手静止时产生的力场 不同的地点 这些字段将被视为 最基本的控制模块 (2)第二个目标是将更复杂的控制字段表示为 以上模块的组合。 机械扰动将用于 估计在执行期间由受试者（a）产生的力场 的不同轨迹的手和（B）的过程中， 适应复杂的机械环境所产生的 伺服控制机械手 (3)第三部分将研究受试者如何学习复杂的手部轨迹 以及轨迹学习可以通过以下方式获得或促进到什么程度 适应专门设计的机械环境。 的设计 这些环境将通过以下共同的表示成为可能： 学习和适应是可测量的力场。 所提出的实验对临床问题有意义：如果 电动机系统具有自动过程，用于适应 环境的力学，那么这些实验将决定如何 利用适应性过程促进运动恢复 因中风或其他中枢神经系统损伤而丧失的技能。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract): This research is aimed at understanding the relationship between (a) the acquisition of new coordinated movements and (b) the adaptation to novel mechanical environments. Both processes entail long-lasting changes in behavior induced by sensorimotor experience. However, while learning of new movements may require intense training and well-focused attention, motor adaptation may occur spontaneously, without need for explicit instructions. The central goal of this proposal is to create a unified experimental and theoretical framework for the analysis of motor learning and adaptation, based on the working hypothesis that both endeavors may be obtained by the central nervous system combining the operation of a few simple modules of control. Accordingly, the investigations are divided in three sets of experiments: (1) In the first, mechanical perturbations will be used to estimate the force fields generated by subjects maintaining their hand at rest in different locations. These fields will be considered as the expression of the most elementary modules of control. (2) The second is aimed at representing more complex control fields as a combination of the above modules. Mechanical perturbations will be used to estimate the force fields generated by the subjects (a) during the execution of different trajectories of the hand and (b) during the process of adaptation to complex mechanical environments generated by a servo-controlled manipulandum. (3) The third will investigate how subjects learn complex hand trajectories and to what extent trajectory learning may be obtained or facilitated by adapting to specifically designed mechanical environments. The design of these environments will be made possible by the common representation of learning and adaptation as measurable fields of forces. The proposed experiments have significance to clinical problems: If the motor system has automatic processes for adapting to changes in the mechanics of the environment, then these experiments will determine how to take advantage of adaptive processes for facilitating the recovery of motor skills that have been lost due to stroke or other CNS injuries.