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Sutter K, Oostwoud Wijdenes L, van Beers RJ, Claassen JAHR, Kessels RPC, Medendorp WP. Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease Affects Fast But Not Slow Adaptive Processes in Motor Learning. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0108-24.2024. [PMID: 38821873 PMCID: PMC11209650 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0108-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by an initial decline in declarative memory, while nondeclarative memory processing remains relatively intact. Error-based motor adaptation is traditionally seen as a form of nondeclarative memory, but recent findings suggest that it involves both fast, declarative, and slow, nondeclarative adaptive processes. If the declarative memory system shares resources with the fast process in motor adaptation, it can be hypothesized that the fast, but not the slow, process is disturbed in AD patients. To test this, we studied 20 early-stage AD patients and 21 age-matched controls of both sexes using a reach adaptation paradigm that relies on spontaneous recovery after sequential exposure to opposing force fields. Adaptation was measured using error clamps and expressed as an adaptation index (AI). Although patients with AD showed slightly lower adaptation to the force field than the controls, both groups demonstrated effects of spontaneous recovery. The time course of the AI was fitted by a hierarchical Bayesian two-state model in which each dynamic state is characterized by a retention and learning rate. Compared to controls, the retention rate of the fast process was the only parameter that was significantly different (lower) in the AD patients, confirming that the memory of the declarative, fast process is disturbed by AD. The slow adaptive process was virtually unaffected. Since the slow process learns only weakly from an error, our results provide neurocomputational evidence for the clinical practice of errorless learning of everyday tasks in people with dementia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Sutter
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
| | - Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
| | - Robert J van Beers
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 BT, The Netherlands
| | - Jurgen A H R Claassen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6525 GA, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Psychology and Radboudumc Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6525 GA, The Netherlands
| | - Roy P C Kessels
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Psychology and Radboudumc Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6525 GA, The Netherlands
- Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray 5803 DM, The Netherlands
| | - W Pieter Medendorp
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6525 GD, The Netherlands
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Tsay JS, Asmerian H, Germine LT, Wilmer J, Ivry RB, Nakayama K. Large-scale citizen science reveals predictors of sensorimotor adaptation. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:510-525. [PMID: 38291127 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01798-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Sensorimotor adaptation is essential for keeping our movements well calibrated in response to changes in the body and environment. For over a century, researchers have studied sensorimotor adaptation in laboratory settings that typically involve small sample sizes. While this approach has proved useful for characterizing different learning processes, laboratory studies are not well suited for exploring the myriad of factors that may modulate human performance. Here, using a citizen science website, we collected over 2,000 sessions of data on a visuomotor rotation task. This unique dataset has allowed us to replicate, reconcile and challenge classic findings in the learning and memory literature, as well as discover unappreciated demographic constraints associated with implicit and explicit processes that support sensorimotor adaptation. More generally, this study exemplifies how a large-scale exploratory approach can complement traditional hypothesis-driven laboratory research in advancing sensorimotor neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan S Tsay
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Hrach Asmerian
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| | - Laura T Germine
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Jeremy Wilmer
- Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA
| | - Richard B Ivry
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ken Nakayama
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Tsay JS, Tan S, Chu MA, Ivry RB, Cooper EA. Low Vision Impairs Implicit Sensorimotor Adaptation in Response to Small Errors, But Not Large Errors. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:736-748. [PMID: 36724396 PMCID: PMC10512469 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Successful goal-directed actions require constant fine-tuning of the motor system. This fine-tuning is thought to rely on an implicit adaptation process that is driven by sensory prediction errors (e.g., where you see your hand after reaching vs. where you expected it to be). Individuals with low vision experience challenges with visuomotor control, but whether low vision disrupts motor adaptation is unknown. To explore this question, we assessed individuals with low vision and matched controls with normal vision on a visuomotor task designed to isolate implicit adaptation. We found that low vision was associated with attenuated implicit adaptation only for small visual errors, but not for large visual errors. This result highlights important constraints underlying how low-fidelity visual information is processed by the sensorimotor system to enable successful implicit adaptation.
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