Motor adaptation and learning is fundamental to the flexibility of walking. Our movement patterns must be constantly adapted as we grow, age, or experience changing conditions such as slippery sidewalks. Learning new motor skills initiates a process of memory formation that generated improved and more stable performance. Previously learned motor memories can also be used to learn another motor task more rapidly. The goal of this project is to reveal how the human brain creates and recalls memories in walking. This will be achieved by studying a set of tasks inspired by research of arm control. The expected findings will have broad implications for human walking flexibility in health and disease, because motor learning and rehabilitation are thought to share similar mechanisms. The advanced scientific knowledge will have broader impacts, including the possible transformation of gait rehabilitation approaches and enhanced understanding of learning and memory in the human brain. Further, this work includes interdisciplinary neuroscience training of promising students with diverse ethnic, gender, and academic backgrounds.
The research objective of this CAREER proposal is to understand the mechanisms for human locomotor adaptation and learning. While motor learning has received ample attention in studies utilizing upper limbs, there are relatively few studies of motor learning in the context of human locomotion. These experiments will examine the commonalities as well as task-specific distinctions across different types of locomotor learning paradigms: sequence learning, visuomotor adaptation and dynamic (split-belt treadmill) adaptation. Specifically, this work will examine how consolidation leads to offline learning and resistance to interferences between different walking patterns, and the immediate and delayed benefits of variable practice on the generalization of learning. This research will also examine the role of sleep in consolidation and generalization of locomotor learning. The integrated educational plan will provide interdisciplinary neuroscience training to undergraduate and graduate students in order to develop and retain young scientists in the area of movement neuroscience. The project will promote active participation from underrepresented students in order to equip women and minorities to pursue STEM education. The project team will engage in public outreach and the dissemination of scientific progress to regional communities, to enhance general interest in science and technology amongst the public.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
