Measures Of Spatial Performance Research Articles

Motor and spatial representations of action: corticospinal excitability in M1 after training with a bimanual skill.

The purpose of the study was twofold: (1) determine if different time delays (30min or 6h) between training and a post-training test with a rhythmic bimanual pattern (90° relative phase) would be associated with different levels of consolidation for the motor and spatial representations of the pattern; and (2) determine if training with the rhythmic bimanual pattern would lead to enhanced corticospinal excitability in M1 linked to changes in motor and spatial performance measures. Coordination accuracy and stability of the 90° pattern improved over practice. Coordination accuracy and stability were the same after a 30-min or 6-h delay between training and the post-training test, indicating equivalent levels of consolidation in the motor representation. The 6-h delay interval resulted in shorter visual recognition times compared to the 30-min delay and was centered on the trained 90° pattern. These findings indicate the consolidation of the spatial representation was more time sensitive compared to the motor representation in the current task. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the first dorsal interosseous muscle (FDI) generated by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) were measured at baseline (before training) and at 6-min and 21-min intervals post-training with the 90° pattern. Increased corticospinal excitability in M1 was evidenced by larger MEPs of the FDI muscle at the 6-min interval. This increased excitability after training is a novel finding after training with a difficult and initially unstable rhythmic bimanual pattern. No significant correlations were found between the MEP data and behavioral data; thus, the increased excitability in M1 may have been linked to the difficulty in performing the pattern, consolidation processes, or both.

Sex differences in performance in the Morris water maze and the effects of initial nonstationary hidden platform training.

Sex differences in rats' performance on a stationary hidden-platform task (spatial task) in the Morris water maze and the effects of initial nonstationary hidden platform training (NSP training) were examined. The NSP training was designed to familiarize rats with the general requirements of the water-maze task without providing spatial information. NSP training led to faster acquisition and improved retention of the subsequent spatial task in both males and females. There was a sex difference favoring males on acquisition and retention of the spatial task only in rats that had not received previous NSP training. Moreover, there was an apparent reversed sex difference favoring females on some measures of spatial performance in NSP-trained rats. These results suggest that performance on the water-maze task, including the expression of sex differences, can be altered by previous familiarization with nonspatial aspects of the task.

Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence

Older adolescents played the video game Tetris for a total of 6 hr each in two separate experiments. None of the subjects had had any prior experience with Tetris, a video game requiring the rapid rotation and placement of seven different-shaped blocks. In Experiment 1, subjects were pre- and posttested on paper-and-pencil measures of spatial ability. In Experiment 2, computerized measures of mental rotation and visualization skills were administered. In both studies, experimental subjects' pre-post scores were compared to pre-post scores obtained from a control sample of subjects. Results indicated that playing Tetris improves mental rotation time and spatial visualization time. Consistent with earlier research, reliable and consistent differences between males and females were only obtained on complex mental rotation tasks.

Atropine sulfate impairs selective parameters of performance in the Morris water maze

Twelve rats were trained to learn the location of a spatially fixed platform hidden in a Morris water maze. Asymptotic performance was achieved over six training days (10 trials/day). Then retention of the spatial task was assessed 30 min after treatment with 5, 25, 50, 75, or 100 mg/kg, ip, atropine sulfate or the equivalent volume of saline. There was a significant drug effect on escape latency, swim distance, swim speed and swim path measures of spatial performance. There was no significant drug effect on heading error; atropinized animals initially headed toward the escape platform over the first 12 cm of their swim path. However, treatment with atropine sulfate significantly disrupted the usual, direct swim path used to reach the hidden escape platform. Atropinized animals frequently swam a spiraled or looping pattern to locate the platform. We suggest that cholinergic blockade may significantly disrupt the processing of visual cues which rats use in place navigation tasks.