Research article summary (published 12 Jun 2002):

Cerebellum activation associated with performance change but not motor learning.

Full Abstract

The issue of whether the cerebellum contributes to motor skill learning is controversial, principally because of the difficulty of separating the effects of motor learning from changes in performance. We performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation during an implicit, motor sequence-learning task that was designed to separate these two processes. During the sequence-encoding phase, human participants performed a concurrent distractor task that served to suppress the performance changes associated with learning. Upon removal of the distractor, participants showed evidence of having learned. No cerebellar activation was associated with the learning phase, despite extensive involvement of other cortical and subcortical regions. There was, however, significant cerebellar activation during the expression of learning; thus, the cerebellum does not contribute to learning of the motor skill itself but is engaged primarily in the modification of performance.

Author information

Author/s: Seidler, R D (RD); Purushotham, A (A); Kim, S-G (SG); Ugurbil, K (K); Willingham, D (D); Ashe, J (J);

Affiliation: Brain Sciences Center (11B), Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA.

Grants: NS40106 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS) ; RR08079 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.) (Science), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Jun; vol 296 (issue 5575) : pp 2043-6

Dates: Created 2002/06/14; Completed 2002/07/15; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 12065841, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Science. 2002 Jun 14;296(5575):1979-80. (PMID: 12065822)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Brain - physiology Brain Mapping Cerebellar Cortex - physiology Cerebellum - physiology Humans Learning

Learning Magnetic Resonance Imaging Motor Activity Motor Skills Psychomotor Performance Reaction Time

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