The Decay of Motor Memories Is Independent of Context Change Detection.

ABSTRACT: When the error signals that guide human motor learning are withheld following training, recently-learned motor memories systematically regress toward untrained performance. It has previously been hypothesized that this regression results from an intrinsic volatility in these memories, resulting in an inevitable decay in the absence of ongoing error signals. However, a recently-proposed alternative posits that even recently-acquired motor memories are intrinsically stable, decaying only if a change in context is detected. This new theory, the context-dependent decay hypothesis, makes two key predictions: (1) after error signals are withheld, decay onset should be systematically delayed until the context change is detected; and (2) manipulations that impair detection by masking context chang

SUBMITTER: Brennan AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4482542 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature