Neuroanatomical Correlates of Motor Skill Learning: Inferences from Neuroimaging to Behavior

Abstract

The learning of motor skills is important from both theoretical and applied perspectives. This chapter uses Fitts and Posner's model as a framework to describe present advances in motor learning. According to Fitts and Posner, the first stage of learning, known as the cognitive stage, is marked by an “intellectualization” of the task. This intellectualization includes learning the importance of cues, responses, and events that are necessary for task success. The cognitive stage is essentially a patchwork of old habits put together in a novel fashion and supplemented by a few new habits. The second stage of the Fitts and Posner model is known as the associative stage because it is the stage in which perceptual and motor aspects of the task are associated. During this stage, the shift in activation patterns from the cerebellum to the parietotemporal and occipitotemporal association areas may support gradual elimination of performance errors. Behavioral errors in this stage of learning may consist of inappropriate subroutines, incorrect sequences of acts, or responses to unimportant cues. The progression from associative stage to the autonomous stage of learning has been operationally defined as the ability to perform the skill independently, with less cognitive effort than either the cognitive or the associative stage of learning. The performer is also able to perform the skill without interference in the presence of environmental distractions or ongoing activities.