Abstract
Adaptive motor learning refers to the ability to adjust to novel disturbances in the environment as a way of minimizing sensorimotor errors. It is known that such processes show large individual differences and are linked to multiple perceptual and cognitive processes. On the other hand, the sense of agency refers to the subjective feeling of control during voluntary motor control. Is the sense of agency just a by-product of the control outcome, or is it actually important for motor control and learning? To answer this question, this study takes an approach based on individual differences to investigate the relationship between the sense of agency and learnability in sensorimotor adaptation. Specifically, we use an adaptive motor learning task to measure individual differences in the efficiency of motor learning. Regarding the sense of agency, we measure the perceptual sensitivity of detecting an increase or a decrease in control when the actual level of control gradually increases or decreases, respectively. The results of structure equation modelling reveal a significant influence of perceptual sensitivity to increased control on motor learning efficiency. On the other hand, the link between perceptual sensitivity to decreased control and motor learning is nonsignificant. The results show that the sense of agency in detecting increased control is associated with the actual ability of sensorimotor adaptation: people who are more sensitive in detecting their control in the environment can also more quickly adjust their behaviors to novel disturbances to acquire better control, compared to people who have a less sensitive sense of agency. Finally, the results also reveal that the processes of increasing control and decreasing control may be partially independent.
Highlights
Adaptive motor learning refers to the ability to adjust to novel disturbances in the environment as a way of minimizing sensorimotor errors
The processes of adaptive motor learning have been intensively studied in psychology and neuroscience using experimental tasks, such as prism d isplacement[1, 2]
A previous study on the relationship between sensorimotor adaptation and explicit memory reported a correlation of R 2 = 0.3019
Summary
Adaptive motor learning refers to the ability to adjust to novel disturbances in the environment as a way of minimizing sensorimotor errors. The results show that the sense of agency in detecting increased control is associated with the actual ability of sensorimotor adaptation: people who are more sensitive in detecting their control in the environment can more quickly adjust their behaviors to novel disturbances to acquire better control, compared to people who have a less sensitive sense of agency. Some recent studies have shown that the sense of agency may play an important role in motor control by boosting control motivation and facilitating action selection[11, 12] Such findings reasonably predict that individual differences in the sense of agency affect motor control and learning. The participants underwent a reaching task that examined their performance in motor adaptation
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