Abstract

The primary motor cortex (M1) is one of the main cortical areas involved in motor learning. However, little is known about its differential role in the learning of the relative and absolute dimensions of motor skills. We investigated the role of M1 in the learning of the dimensions of a complex motor skill. Forty-eight participants practiced golf putting and were stimulated for 20 minutes with real or sham bihemispheric tDCS before acquisition. tDCS improved global performance from pre- to post-test. Only those with worse initial performance who were stimulated by tDCS showed a significant improvement in the skill’s absolute dimension. No effects of tDCS were found for the relative dimension. Our results suggest that M1 has a distinct participation in the learning of the absolute dimension of complex motor skills, and tDCS effects are influenced by the learner’s level of initial performance.

摘要

初级运动皮层 (M1) 是参与运动学习的主要皮层区域之一。然而，人们对其在学习运动技能的相对和绝对维度方面的不同作用知之甚少。我们研究了 M1 在学习复杂运动技能维度中的作用。48 名参与者练习高尔夫推杆，并在获取前用真实或假的双半球 tDCS 刺激 20 分钟。tDCS 提高了从前测试到后测试的整体性能。只有那些被 tDCS 刺激的初始表现较差的人在技能的绝对维度上表现出显着的提高。没有发现 tDCS 对相对维度的影响。我们的结果表明，M1 明显参与了复杂运动技能绝对维度的学习，