Human Cerebellar Function in Multiple Task Domains

摘要 虽然众所周知，健康的老龄化对感觉运动控制有有害影响，但老龄化对感觉运动控制的影响是不可忽视的。 感觉运动适应仍然是有争议的。我们将先前研究中出现的模糊情况归因于两个方面 方法问题。首先，传统的运动适应任务合并了多个学习过程，并可能掩盖了学习过程。 老化对组件过程的影响，例如隐式重新校准或显式重新瞄准。二、有限样本的使用 尺寸和将年龄视为二元变量（“年轻”与“年老”）的倾向使得很难准确确定年龄 衰老对整个生命周期的影响。本R35研究补充的目标是通过使用新的 分析任务，隔离隐式重新校准（目标1）和显式重新瞄准（目标2），以更好地了解衰老是如何 影响每一个学习过程。为了详细描述这些过程在整个成年期如何演变， 将使用一种新颖的基于网络的众包方法招募大量样本，使我们能够将年龄视为一个连续的 变量（目标1和2）。建立在计算模型上，该模型指定了重新校准的基础组件操作， 重新瞄准，我们将调查如何老化机械地影响每个过程。此外，我们将比较自然和 病理性衰老通过在平行实验中测试患有小脑退化的个体。综上所述，本补充 不仅有助于父母R35通过加深我们的机械理解如何自然和病理 小脑老化影响感觉运动学习，但也提供了有价值的开源规范性数据， 旨在改善小脑病变患者的临床结局并抵消有害的 老化对运动控制的影响。

Abstract While it is well-known that healthy aging has deleterious effects on sensorimotor control, the impact of aging on sensorimotor adaptation remains controversial. We attribute the ambiguous picture that emerges from prior studies to two methodological issues. First, conventional motor adaptation tasks conflate multiple learning processes and may mask the effect of aging on component processes such as implicit recalibration or explicit re-aiming. Second, the use of limited sample sizes and tendency to treat age as a binary variable (“young” vs “old”) have made it difficult to precisely determine the impact of aging across the lifespan. The goal of this R35 research supplement addresses these issues by using novel analytical tasks that isolate implicit recalibration (Aim 1) and explicit re-aiming (Aim 2) to better understand how aging affects each learning process. To obtain a detailed characterization of how these processes evolve throughout adulthood, a large sample will be recruited using a novel web-based crowd-sourcing approach, allowing us to treat age as a continuous variable (Aim 1 & 2). Building on computational models that specify component operations underlying recalibration and re-aiming, we will investigate how aging mechanistically affects each process. In addition, we will compare natural and pathological aging by testing individuals with cerebellar degeneration in parallel experiments. In summary, this supplement will not only contribute to the parent R35 by deepening our mechanistic understanding of how natural and pathological aging of the cerebellum impact sensorimotor learning but also provide valuable open-source normative data that may inform interventions designed to improve clinical outcomes for individuals with cerebellar pathology and offset the deleterious effects of aging on motor control.