Human motor skill learning: the interaction between individual differences in brain function, experience and development

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Individual differences in brain function have been shown to be related to individual differences in the ability to perform complex tasks, such as learning to play the piano. Individual differences in brain organization and motor skill can be related in a number of ways. First, pre-existing or innate differences in the brain may contribute to the ability to learn. Second, specific training can change brain organization. Third, development critically shapes brain structure and function. Finally, and very importantly, these factors can interact, as in the case of musical training, where practice during childhood can result in long-term changes in adult brain organization and performance. The overall goal of my research is to examine the interaction between pre-existing differences in brain organization, development and specific training. This goal is broken down into four sets of studies addressing: pre-existing differences in brain function that predict performance; 2) the impact of long-term musical training; 3) developmental changes in motor learning; and 4) the interaction of long-term training and development. The proposed research uses behavioral and functional neuroimaging studies to measure the relationship between task performance and brain function, and to assess the impact of short-term and long-term training. We use musicians as a model to study the effects of long-term motor training. Studying musicians is advantageous because their training entails intensive practice of sensorimotor skills, and the type and duration of training can be quantified. In addition, we can assess the interaction of training and development by comparing motor performance in children with and without musical training. And, perhaps most interestingly, we can use the time in childhood when people began training to assess the interaction of development with long-term behavioral and brain plasticity.