The Virtual Teacher (VT) Paradigm: Learning New Patterns of Interpersonal Coordination Using the Human Dynamic Clamp

The Virtual Teacher paradigm, a version of the Human Dynamic Clamp (HDC), is introduced into studies of learning patterns of inter-personal coordination. Combining mathematical modeling and experimentation, we investigate how the HDC may be used as a Virtual Teacher (VT) to help humans co-produce and internalize new inter-personal coordination pattern(s). Human learners produced rhythmic finger movements whilst observing a computer-driven avatar, animated by dynamic equations stemming from the well-established Haken-Kelso-Bunz (1985) and Schöner-Kelso (1988) models of coordination. We demonstrate that the VT is successful in shifting the pattern co-produced by the VT-human system toward any value (Experiment 1) and that the VT can help humans learn unstable relative phasing patterns (Experiment 2). Using transfer entropy, we find that information flow from one partner to the other increases when VT-human coordination loses stability. This suggests that variable joint performance may actually facilitate interaction, and in the long run learning. VT appears to be a promising tool for exploring basic learning processes involved in social interaction, unraveling the dynamics of information flow between interacting partners, and providing possible rehabilitation opportunities

Transfer of learning between unimanual and bimanual rhythmic movement coordination: transfer is a function of the task dynamic.

Under certain conditions, learning can transfer from a trained task to an untrained version of that same task. However, it is as yet unclear what those certain conditions are or why learning transfers when it does. Coordinated rhythmic movement is a valuable model system for investigating transfer because we have a model of the underlying task dynamic that includes perceptual coupling between the limbs being coordinated. The model predicts that (1) coordinated rhythmic movements, both bimanual and unimanual, are organised with respect to relative motion information for relative phase in the coupling function, (2) unimanual is less stable than bimanual coordination because the coupling is unidirectional rather than bidirectional, and (3) learning a new coordination is primarily about learning to perceive and use the relevant information which, with equal perceptual improvement due to training, yields equal transfer of learning from bimanual to unimanual coordination and vice versa [but, given prediction (2), the resulting performance is also conditioned by the intrinsic stability of each task]. In the present study, two groups were trained to produce 90° either unimanually or bimanually, respectively, and tested in respect to learning (namely improved performance in the trained 90° coordination task and improved visual discrimination of 90°) and transfer of learning (to the other, untrained 90° coordination task). Both groups improved in the task condition in which they were trained and in their ability to visually discriminate 90°, and this learning transferred to the untrained condition. When scaled by the relative intrinsic stability of each task, transfer levels were found to be equal. The results are discussed in the context of the perception–action approach to learning and performance

Error correction in bimanual coordination benefits from bilateral muscle activity: evidence from kinesthetic tracking

Although previous studies indicated that the stability properties of interlimb coordination largely result from the integrated timing of efferent signals to both limbs, they also depend on afference-based interactions. In the present study, we examined contributions of afference-based error corrections to rhythmic bimanual coordination using a kinesthetic tracking task. Furthermore, since we found in previous research that subjects activated their muscles in the tracked (motor-driven) arm, we examined the functional significance of this activation to gain more insight into the processes underlying this phenomenon. To these aims, twelve subjects coordinated active movements of the right hand with motor-driven oscillatory movements of the left hand in two coordinative patterns: in-phase (relative phase 0°) and antiphase (relative phase 180°). They were either instructed to activate the muscles in the motor-driven arm as if moving along with the motor (active condition), or to keep these muscles as relaxed as possible (relaxed condition). We found that error corrections were more effective in in-phase than in antiphase coordination, resulting in more adequate adjustments of cycle durations to compensate for timing errors detected at the start of each cycle. In addition, error corrections were generally more pronounced in the active than in the relaxed condition. This activity-related difference was attributed to the associated bilateral neural control signals (as estimated using electromyography), which provided an additional reference (in terms of expected sensory consequences) for afference-based error corrections. An intimate relation was revealed between the (integrated) motor commands to both limbs and the processing of afferent feedback

Beyond in-phase and anti-phase coordination in a model of joint action

In 1985, Haken, Kelso and Bunz proposed a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators as a model of rhythmic movement patterns in human bimanual coordination. Since then, the Haken–Kelso–Bunz (HKB) model has become a modelling paradigm applied extensively in all areas of movement science, including interpersonal motor coordination. However, all previous studies have followed a line of analysis based on slowly varying amplitudes and rotating wave approximations. These approximations lead to a reduced system, consisting of a single differential equation representing the evolution of the relative phase of the two coupled oscillators: the HKB model of the relative phase. Here we take a different approach and systematically investigate the behaviour of the HKB model in the full four-dimensional state space and for general coupling strengths. We perform detailed numerical bifurcation analyses and reveal that the HKB model supports previously unreported dynamical regimes as well as bistability between a variety of coordination patterns. Furthermore, we identify the stability boundaries of distinct coordination regimes in the model and discuss the applicability of our findings to interpersonal coordination and other joint action tasks

“Biological Geometry Perception”: Visual Discrimination of Eccentricity Is Related to Individual Motor Preferences

In the continuum between a stroke and a circle including all possible ellipses, some eccentricities seem more “biologically preferred” than others by the motor system, probably because they imply less demanding coordination patterns. Based on the idea that biological motion perception relies on knowledge of the laws that govern the motor system, we investigated whether motorically preferential and non-preferential eccentricities are visually discriminated differently. In contrast with previous studies that were interested in the effect of kinematic/time features of movements on their visual perception, we focused on geometric/spatial features, and therefore used a static visual display.In a dual-task paradigm, participants visually discriminated 13 static ellipses of various eccentricities while performing a finger-thumb opposition sequence with either the dominant or the non-dominant hand. Our assumption was that because the movements used to trace ellipses are strongly lateralized, a motor task performed with the dominant hand should affect the simultaneous visual discrimination more strongly. We found that visual discrimination was not affected when the motor task was performed by the non-dominant hand. Conversely, it was impaired when the motor task was performed with the dominant hand, but only for the ellipses that we defined as preferred by the motor system, based on an assessment of individual preferences during an independent graphomotor task.Visual discrimination of ellipses depends on the state of the motor neural networks controlling the dominant hand, but only when their eccentricity is “biologically preferred”. Importantly, this effect emerges on the basis of a static display, suggesting that what we call “biological geometry”, i.e., geometric features resulting from preferential movements is relevant information for the visual processing of bidimensional shapes

Testing Multiple Coordination Constraints with a Novel Bimanual Visuomotor Task

The acquisition of a new bimanual skill depends on several motor coordination constraints. To date, coordination constraints have often been tested relatively independently of one another, particularly with respect to isofrequency and multifrequency rhythms. Here, we used a new paradigm to test the interaction of multiple coordination constraints. Coordination constraints that were tested included temporal complexity, directionality, muscle grouping, and hand dominance. Twenty-two healthy young adults performed a bimanual dial rotation task that required left and right hand coordination to track a moving target on a computer monitor. Two groups were compared, either with or without four days of practice with augmented visual feedback. Four directional patterns were tested such that both hands moved either rightward (clockwise), leftward (counterclockwise), inward or outward relative to each other. Seven frequency ratios (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2, 1∶1, 2∶3. 1∶2, 1∶3) between the left and right hand were introduced. As expected, isofrequency patterns (1∶1) were performed more successfully than multifrequency patterns (non 1∶1). In addition, performance was more accurate when participants were required to move faster with the dominant right hand (1∶3, 1∶2 and 2∶3) than with the non-dominant left hand (3∶1, 2∶1, 3∶2). Interestingly, performance deteriorated as the relative angular velocity between the two hands increased, regardless of whether the required frequency ratio was an integer or non-integer. This contrasted with previous finger tapping research where the integer ratios generally led to less error than the non-integer ratios. We suggest that this is due to the different movement topologies that are required of each paradigm. Overall, we found that this visuomotor task was useful for testing the interaction of multiple coordination constraints as well as the release from these constraints with practice in the presence of augmented visual feedback

Comparing unilateral and bilateral upper limb training: The ULTRA-stroke program design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>About 80% of all stroke survivors have an upper limb paresis immediately after stroke, only about a third of whom (30 to 40%) regain some dexterity within six months following conventional treatment programs. Of late, however, two recently developed interventions - constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) and bilateral arm training with rhythmic auditory cueing (BATRAC) - have shown promising results in the treatment of upper limb paresis in chronic stroke patients. The ULTRA-stroke (acronym for Upper Limb TRaining After stroke) program was conceived to assess the effectiveness of these interventions in subacute stroke patients and to examine how the observed changes in sensori-motor functioning relate to changes in stroke recovery mechanisms associated with peripheral stiffness, interlimb interactions, and cortical inter- and intrahemispheric networks. The present paper describes the design of this single-blinded randomized clinical trial (RCT), which has recently started and will take several years to complete.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Sixty patients with a first ever stroke will be recruited. Patients will be stratified in terms of their remaining motor ability at the distal part of the arm (i.e., wrist and finger movements) and randomized over three intervention groups receiving modified CIMT, modified BATRAC, or an equally intensive (i.e., dose-matched) conventional treatment program for 6 weeks. Primary outcome variable is the score on the Action Research Arm test (ARAT), which will be assessed before, directly after, and 6 weeks after the intervention. During those test sessions all patients will also undergo measurements aimed at investigating the associated recovery mechanisms using haptic robots and magneto-encephalography (MEG).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>ULTRA-stroke is a 3-year translational research program which aims (1) to assess the relative effectiveness of the three interventions, on a group level but also as a function of patient characteristics, and (2) to delineate the functional and neurophysiological changes that are induced by those interventions.</p> <p>The outcome on the ARAT together with information about changes in the associated mechanisms will provide a better understanding of how specific therapies influence neurobiological changes, and which post-stroke conditions lend themselves to specific treatments.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The ULTRA-stroke program is registered at the Netherlands Trial Register (NTR, <url>http://www.trialregister.nl</url>, number NTR1665).</p

The 50s cliff: perceptuo-motor learning rates across the lifespan.

We recently found that older adults show reduced learning rates when learning a new pattern of coordinated rhythmic movement. The purpose of this study was to extend that finding by examining the performance of all ages across the lifespan from the 20 s through to the 80 s to determine how learning rates change with age. We tested whether adults could learn to produce a novel coordinated rhythmic movement (90° relative phase) in a visually guided unimanual task. We determined learning rates to quantify changes in learning with age and to determine at what ages the changes occur. We found, as before, that learning rates of participants in their 70 s and 80 s were half those of participants in their 20 s. We also found a gradual slow decline in learning rate with age until approximately age 50, when there was a sudden drop to a reduced learning rate for the 60 though 80 year olds. We discuss possible causes for the "50 s cliff" in perceptuo-motor learning rates and suggest that age related deficits in perception of complex motions may be the key to understanding this result

How a new behavioral pattern is stabilized with learning determines its persistence and flexibility in memory

International audienceMemory organization should be at times persistent and at others flexible in the face of environmental perturbations. Unlike conceptualizations that bear on the reduction of the mismatch between the memory trace and the model, it is assumed here that changes in the memory system are governed by stability principles. Results of a bimanual coordination learning task indicated that (1) persistent memories are created and stabilized, when the competition between the preexisting (0 and 180 degrees of relative phase) and the to-be-learned (90 degrees ) patterns leads to a qualitative change in the memory layout; (2) transient memories arise without stabilization, when the competition is weaker, leading to a temporary shift of an initially stable pattern (90 degrees ) toward the required value (135 degrees ). These findings call for further examination of the relationship between stability and memory persistence, which might give a new thrust to understanding its neural correlates