Abstract
Sensorimotor learning refers to improvements that occur through practice in the performance of sensory-guided motor behaviors. Leveraging novel technical capabilities of an immersive virtual environment, we probed the component kinematic processes that mediate sensorimotor learning. Twenty naïve subjects performed a simulated marksmanship task modeled after Olympic Trap Shooting standards. We measured movement kinematics and shooting performance as participants practiced 350 trials while receiving trial-by-trial feedback about shooting success. Spatiotemporal analysis of motion tracking elucidated the ballistic and refinement phases of hand movements. We found systematic changes in movement kinematics that accompanied improvements in shot accuracy during training, though reaction and response times did not change over blocks. In particular, we observed longer, slower, and more precise ballistic movements that replaced effort spent on corrections and refinement. Collectively, these results leverage developments in immersive virtual reality technology to quantify and compare the kinematics of movement during early learning of full-body sensorimotor orienting.
Highlights
There is a tight interplay between perception and action
We modeled our task after Olympic Trap Shooting in consultation with a physiotherapist for the United States Shooting team and conducted all experiments in a CAVE-like system, the Duke immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE)
Behavioral data collected during this simulated marksmanship task comprised both traditional measures of Shot Accuracy and Response Times, as well as novel high-precision information about the movement kinematics that transpired over the course of a trial
Summary
There is a tight interplay between perception and action. The abilities to integrate information from the environment, maintain attentional focus, and swiftly formulate precise motor actions are central to daily life. The purpose of learning sensorimotor skills is to have the ability to produce, and consistently reproduce, goal-oriented movements that are specific to the task at hand (Vidal et al, 2015). Whether this involves returning an overhand serve or putting on a pair of pants, a motor plan must be implemented and adjusted based on sensory feedback. The impact of sensory information in the motor process differs between two general components of movements: ballistic and refinement (Desmurget and Grafton, 2000; Elliott et al, 2001, 2010; Urbin et al, 2011). Through repeated trials of reaching to static targets, when visual feedback is available, kinematics typically change so that movements are made at reduced speeds with more time spent refining movement trajectories with the available visual information (Khan et al, 2002; Heath, 2005)
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