Title:
Neurobehavioral quantification of the transition to explicit awareness in skilled motor learning: Implications for rehabilitation

dc.contributor.advisor Wheaton, Lewis A.
dc.contributor.author Lawson, Regan
dc.contributor.committeeMember Millard-Stafford, Mindy
dc.contributor.committeeMember Prilutsky, Boris
dc.contributor.committeeMember Snow, Teresa
dc.contributor.committeeMember Wolf, Steve
dc.contributor.department Applied Physiology
dc.date.accessioned 2019-01-16T17:20:28Z
dc.date.available 2019-01-16T17:20:28Z
dc.date.created 2017-12
dc.date.issued 2017-11-08
dc.date.submitted December 2017
dc.date.updated 2019-01-16T17:20:28Z
dc.description.abstract We often take for granted the ability to learn and execute sequential movements in a smooth, automatic manner on a continual daily basis. Unfortunately, many patient populations exhibit deficits in motor learning, impairing the ability to develop such sequential motor skills. Understanding the individual neural progression associated with sequential learning in healthy individuals may provide valuable insights of motor learning as well as identify factors that can impede learning. Recent studies have indicated potential therapeutic benefits to the incidental development of explicit awareness during a motor learning task, but have not addressed the potential confound of variability in individual learning rates. We identified an individualized indicator of incidentally developed explicit awareness to more precisely examine the neurobehavioral changes associated with sequential motor learning to a level of explicit awareness. EEG results revealed the presence of a facilitative frontoparietal network for subjects demonstrating awareness, that was not present for those failing to develop awareness. Additional neurobehavioral correlations provided evidence for the impact of working memory on the ability to acquire initial explicit awareness, and the impact of learning strategy on the ability to successfully transfer the newly learned skill to a novel, more complex motor task. Finally, a multimodal approach examined eye-tracking, kinematics and neural activity changes for prosthesis users and intact control subjects when learning a sequential motor task. Prosthesis users demonstrated neurobehavioral patterns reflective of enhanced visual reliance for motor control, impacting motor learning progression. It was additionally noted that prosthesis users developing awareness appeared to engage in behaviors which introduced additional sensorimotor information relevant to motor learning. The individualized approach in the presented work provide insight into rehabilitative interventions with which to assist individuals experiencing motor learning deficits.
dc.description.degree Ph.D.
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/60690
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject Motor learning
dc.subject Individualized
dc.subject EEG
dc.subject Neurorehabilitation
dc.subject Amputee
dc.subject Prosthesis
dc.subject Explicit awareness
dc.title Neurobehavioral quantification of the transition to explicit awareness in skilled motor learning: Implications for rehabilitation
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Wheaton, Lewis A.
local.contributor.corporatename College of Sciences
local.contributor.corporatename School of Biological Sciences
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 8d3c4138-8fb4-4402-a711-fbd9022a0270
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85042be6-2d68-4e07-b384-e1f908fae48a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication c8b3bd08-9989-40d3-afe3-e0ad8d5c72b5
thesis.degree.level Doctoral
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