Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind

Abstract It is well established that blindness induces changes in cerebral function and structure, namely affecting the somatomotor regions. However, the behavioural significance of these changes on the motor system, and on motor learning in particular, remains elusive. In this study, we used a modi...

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Autores principales:	Florence Morin-Parent, Louis de Beaumont, Hugo Théoret, Jean-Francois Lepage
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/191c59c392dd4ee4b7b966fe00171a6f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:191c59c392dd4ee4b7b966fe00171a6f2021-12-02T16:06:37ZSuperior non-specific motor learning in the blind10.1038/s41598-017-04831-12045-2322https://doaj.org/article/191c59c392dd4ee4b7b966fe00171a6f2017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04831-1https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract It is well established that blindness induces changes in cerebral function and structure, namely affecting the somatomotor regions. However, the behavioural significance of these changes on the motor system, and on motor learning in particular, remains elusive. In this study, we used a modified version of the serial reaction time task (SRTT) with auditory cues to assess sequence specific and non-specific motor learning in blind adults and sighted controls, and compare them with sighted controls performing the classic visual SRTT. Our results show that the auditory SRTT faithfully replicates the typical learning pattern obtained with the visual SRTT. On the auditory SRTT, blind individuals consistently showed faster reaction times than sighted controls, being at par with sighted individuals performing the visual SRTT. On the other hand, blind participants displayed a particular pattern of motor learning in comparison to both sighted groups; while controls improved prominently on sequence specific learning, blind individuals displayed comparable performance on both specific and non-specific learning, markedly outperforming the control groups on non-specific learning. These results show that blindness, in addition to causing long-term changes in cortical organisation, can also influence dynamic neuroplastic mechanisms in systems beyond those typically associated with compensatory sensory processing.Florence Morin-ParentLouis de BeaumontHugo ThéoretJean-Francois LepageNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Florence Morin-Parent Louis de Beaumont Hugo Théoret Jean-Francois Lepage Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
description	Abstract It is well established that blindness induces changes in cerebral function and structure, namely affecting the somatomotor regions. However, the behavioural significance of these changes on the motor system, and on motor learning in particular, remains elusive. In this study, we used a modified version of the serial reaction time task (SRTT) with auditory cues to assess sequence specific and non-specific motor learning in blind adults and sighted controls, and compare them with sighted controls performing the classic visual SRTT. Our results show that the auditory SRTT faithfully replicates the typical learning pattern obtained with the visual SRTT. On the auditory SRTT, blind individuals consistently showed faster reaction times than sighted controls, being at par with sighted individuals performing the visual SRTT. On the other hand, blind participants displayed a particular pattern of motor learning in comparison to both sighted groups; while controls improved prominently on sequence specific learning, blind individuals displayed comparable performance on both specific and non-specific learning, markedly outperforming the control groups on non-specific learning. These results show that blindness, in addition to causing long-term changes in cortical organisation, can also influence dynamic neuroplastic mechanisms in systems beyond those typically associated with compensatory sensory processing.
format	article
author	Florence Morin-Parent Louis de Beaumont Hugo Théoret Jean-Francois Lepage
author_facet	Florence Morin-Parent Louis de Beaumont Hugo Théoret Jean-Francois Lepage
author_sort	Florence Morin-Parent
title	Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
title_short	Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
title_full	Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
title_fullStr	Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
title_full_unstemmed	Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
title_sort	superior non-specific motor learning in the blind
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/191c59c392dd4ee4b7b966fe00171a6f
work_keys_str_mv	AT florencemorinparent superiornonspecificmotorlearningintheblind AT louisdebeaumont superiornonspecificmotorlearningintheblind AT hugotheoret superiornonspecificmotorlearningintheblind AT jeanfrancoislepage superiornonspecificmotorlearningintheblind
_version_	1718384949143273472

Superior non-specific motor learning in the blind

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