Mechanistic determinants of effector-independent motor memory encoding

Abstract

Coordinated, purposeful movements learned with one effector generalize to another effector, a finding that has important implications for tool use, sports, performing arts, and rehabilitation. This occurs because the motor memory acquired through learning comprises representations that are effector-independent. Despite knowing this for decades, the neural mechanisms and substrates that are causally associated with the encoding of effector-independent motor memories remain poorly understood. Here we exploit intereffector generalization, the behavioral signature of effector-independent representations, to address this crucial gap. We first show in healthy human participants that postlearning generalization across effectors is principally predicted by the level of an implicit mechanism that evolves gradually during learning to produce a temporally stable memory. We then demonstrate that interfering with left but not right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) using high-definition cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation impedes learning mediated by this mechanism, thus potentially preventing the encoding of effector-independent memory components. We confirm this in our final experiment in which we show that disrupting left PPC but not primary motor cortex after learning has been allowed to occur blocks intereffector generalization. Collectively, our results reveal the key mechanism that encodes an effector-independent memory trace and uncover a central role for the PPC in its representation. The encoding of such motor memory components outside primary sensorimotor regions likely underlies a parsimonious neural organization that enables more efficient movement planning in the brain, independent of the effector used to act.