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Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence

It is well acknowledged that motor sequences can be learned quickly through online learning. Subsequently, the initial acquisition of a motor sequence is boosted or consolidated by offline learning. However, little is known whether offline learning can drive the fast learning of motor sequences (i.e...

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Autores principales: Du, Yue, Prashad, Shikha, Schoenbrun, Ilana, Clark, Jane E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4773591/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26973502
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00087
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author Du, Yue
Prashad, Shikha
Schoenbrun, Ilana
Clark, Jane E.
author_facet Du, Yue
Prashad, Shikha
Schoenbrun, Ilana
Clark, Jane E.
author_sort Du, Yue
collection PubMed
description It is well acknowledged that motor sequences can be learned quickly through online learning. Subsequently, the initial acquisition of a motor sequence is boosted or consolidated by offline learning. However, little is known whether offline learning can drive the fast learning of motor sequences (i.e., initial sequence learning in the first training session). To examine offline learning in the fast learning stage, we asked four groups of young adults to perform the serial reaction time (SRT) task with either a fixed or probabilistic sequence and with or without preliminary knowledge (PK) of the presence of a sequence. The sequence and PK were manipulated to emphasize either procedural (probabilistic sequence; no preliminary knowledge (NPK)) or declarative (fixed sequence; with PK) memory that were found to either facilitate or inhibit offline learning. In the SRT task, there were six learning blocks with a 2 min break between each consecutive block. Throughout the session, stimuli followed the same fixed or probabilistic pattern except in Block 5, in which stimuli appeared in a random order. We found that PK facilitated the learning of a fixed sequence, but not a probabilistic sequence. In addition to overall learning measured by the mean reaction time (RT), we examined the progressive changes in RT within and between blocks (i.e., online and offline learning, respectively). It was found that the two groups who performed the fixed sequence, regardless of PK, showed greater online learning than the other two groups who performed the probabilistic sequence. The groups who performed the probabilistic sequence, regardless of PK, did not display online learning, as indicated by a decline in performance within the learning blocks. However, they did demonstrate remarkably greater offline improvement in RT, which suggests that they are learning the probabilistic sequence offline. These results suggest that in the SRT task, the fast acquisition of a motor sequence is driven by concurrent online and offline learning. In addition, as the acquisition of a probabilistic sequence requires greater procedural memory compared to the acquisition of a fixed sequence, our results suggest that offline learning is more likely to take place in a procedural sequence learning task.
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spelling pubmed-47735912016-03-11 Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence Du, Yue Prashad, Shikha Schoenbrun, Ilana Clark, Jane E. Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience It is well acknowledged that motor sequences can be learned quickly through online learning. Subsequently, the initial acquisition of a motor sequence is boosted or consolidated by offline learning. However, little is known whether offline learning can drive the fast learning of motor sequences (i.e., initial sequence learning in the first training session). To examine offline learning in the fast learning stage, we asked four groups of young adults to perform the serial reaction time (SRT) task with either a fixed or probabilistic sequence and with or without preliminary knowledge (PK) of the presence of a sequence. The sequence and PK were manipulated to emphasize either procedural (probabilistic sequence; no preliminary knowledge (NPK)) or declarative (fixed sequence; with PK) memory that were found to either facilitate or inhibit offline learning. In the SRT task, there were six learning blocks with a 2 min break between each consecutive block. Throughout the session, stimuli followed the same fixed or probabilistic pattern except in Block 5, in which stimuli appeared in a random order. We found that PK facilitated the learning of a fixed sequence, but not a probabilistic sequence. In addition to overall learning measured by the mean reaction time (RT), we examined the progressive changes in RT within and between blocks (i.e., online and offline learning, respectively). It was found that the two groups who performed the fixed sequence, regardless of PK, showed greater online learning than the other two groups who performed the probabilistic sequence. The groups who performed the probabilistic sequence, regardless of PK, did not display online learning, as indicated by a decline in performance within the learning blocks. However, they did demonstrate remarkably greater offline improvement in RT, which suggests that they are learning the probabilistic sequence offline. These results suggest that in the SRT task, the fast acquisition of a motor sequence is driven by concurrent online and offline learning. In addition, as the acquisition of a probabilistic sequence requires greater procedural memory compared to the acquisition of a fixed sequence, our results suggest that offline learning is more likely to take place in a procedural sequence learning task. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-03-02 /pmc/articles/PMC4773591/ /pubmed/26973502 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00087 Text en Copyright © 2016 Du, Prashad, Schoenbrun and Clark. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Du, Yue
Prashad, Shikha
Schoenbrun, Ilana
Clark, Jane E.
Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title_full Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title_fullStr Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title_full_unstemmed Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title_short Probabilistic Motor Sequence Yields Greater Offline and Less Online Learning than Fixed Sequence
title_sort probabilistic motor sequence yields greater offline and less online learning than fixed sequence
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4773591/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26973502
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00087
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