The role of awareness in explicit and implicit visuomotor adaptation

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Motor adaptation is the process whereby our sensorimotor system modifies or shapes previously learned movements to meet changing task demands. For example, we might need to adapt our movements to internal neuromuscular changes brought about by age, disease, or fatigue, etc., or to external environmental changes such as a new pair of prescription glasses or an icy sidewalk. The long-term goal of my research is to determine how the brain processes sensory information for goal-directed action in a continuously changing environment. In the short-term, the proposed research will investigate the role of awareness (e.g., strategies and/or instructions provided) in how movements are adapted to meet novel sensorimotor demands. This adaptation can arise both explicitly (e.g., a strategy is adopted consciously in order to meet changing task demands) and implicitly (e.g., movements are adapted without conscious awareness) at the same time. Through a series of three projects, I will address the following current questions surrounding awareness and motor adaptation:***1. Does awareness influence the extent of explicit and implicit adaptation over time? ***2. Is the ability to generalize explicit and implicit adaptation to novel environments dependent on awareness? ***3. Does awareness influence the preparation and execution of explicitly and implicitly adapted movements? ***In order to evaluate the role of awareness in motor adaptation, I will monitor the extent to which human participants explicitly and implicitly adapt their reaching movements in a novel visual environment when awareness is manipulated. Specifically, participants will reach in a virtual reality environment when the visual representation of their hand on a computer screen is shifted relative to their actual hand location (much the same as using a mouse to control a cursor on a computer monitor). To manipulate awareness, some participants will be instructed on how to act within the novel environment, while others will not be aware that the environment has changed. ***Results will provide insight into the role of awareness on motor preparation and execution to meet changing task demands. Furthermore, understanding the influence of awareness on explicit and implicit adaptation has important implications for interactions with virtual-reality devices (e.g., flight simulators), teleoperations (e.g., remote surgery) and robotics, as well as the design of and instructions provided during motor training and rehabilitation programs. For example, providing instructions may promote initial learning (i.e., explicit adaptation), such that performance improves quickly. However, this quick learning may have an associated cost. Specifically, continually evoking strategies may lead to increased preparation time and inefficient movements in the long term (i.e., limited implicit adaptation).