Tara Najafi Humanities and Social Science|L&S Sciences
The impact of subcortical lesions on motor adaptation to different error sizes
Motor adaptation comprises the essential processes which allow us to adapt to new environmental demands. Recent work has shown that motor adaptation includes both an explicit and implicit learning component. Explicit learning is strategic and utilizes performance errors, while implicit learning is unconscious and driven by motor execution errors. The cerebellum is central to generating these error signals, as has been shown extensively through the impaired adaptation of patients with cerebellar degeneration when completing visuomotor perturbation tasks. However, findings regarding the function of the cerebellum in implicit adaptation to varying error sizes remains unclear, as paradigms using larger error sizes are often confounded with explicit strategy. The role of the basal ganglia is further ambiguous, as a consensus has not yet been reached regarding its involvement in implicit adaptation. Through the use of the “clamped feedback” method, my project will isolate implicit adaptation, such that I will be able to evaluate how patients with lesions to the cerebellum and basal ganglia adapt to errors of various sizes compared to their neurotypical age-matched counterparts.
Message To Sponsor
I greatly appreciate the Pergo Fund for supporting my research and allowing me to fully immerse myself in my project this summer. With the guidance of the SURF program and my mentors, I was able to investigate how implicit motor movements are impacted by Parkinson's Disease. Not only did I collect and analyze interesting data, but I was able to take a lead on my project and experience the research process, from the conception of an experiment to preparing for publication. My experience this summer has given me the confidence to pursue more patient-based research experiences in my future clinical career.