Latest

motor learning

·May 7, 2025·6 min read

How Learning Reshapes Your Brain’s Connections

New research reveals that learning doesn't just alter brain activity — it physically rewires the connections between key brain regions to make communication faster and more precise. Scientists used advanced imaging and a new data analysis method to map how the thalamocortical pathway, connecting the thalamus and motor cortex, changes during motor learning in mice.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 2, 2025·5 min read

How Motor Learning Shapes Sense of Agency

A new study reveals that motor exploration, not mere imitation, is critical for developing a sense of agency (SoA) in unfamiliar environments. Using a data glove and cursor task, researchers found that early judgments of control rely on timing, but true SoA strengthens when learners actively discover movement rules.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 13, 2024·6 min read

Adults Learn Skills Faster, but Kids Retain Them Better With Sleep

Contrary to common beliefs, adults can learn new motor skills faster than children, but children retain these skills better due to more effective sleep-driven memory consolidation. In a recent study, adults showed faster skill acquisition, while children demonstrated superior retention after sleep.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 18, 2024·4 min read

Brain Structure Differences Explain Faster Learning of Motor Skills

A new study reveals that quick learners of motor skills have distinct brain activity patterns. Using brain-monitoring electrodes, they found that visual processing plays a crucial role in learning new movements.

This shows a person with a metal ball in their hand.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·December 24, 2023·4 min read

Enhancing Motor Learning with Visual-Motor Illusions

Researchers found that visual aids creating illusions of movement, like screens showing a hand's motion, can enhance motor performance and early-stage motor learning. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy revealed distinct brain activity changes in motor learning regions compared to traditional third-person motion observation.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·April 28, 2023·7 min read

Short-Term Memories Key to Rapid Motor-Skill Learning, Not Long-Term Memory

A new study challenges conventional thinking on the role of short and long-term memories in relearning motor skills. Researchers found that fleeting short-term memories, rather than long-term ones, are responsible for rapid motor learning, indicating the existence of mechanisms for regulating the learning rates for memories that are distinct from the memories themselves.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 13, 2023·4 min read

Changes in the Brain Responsible for Motor Skill Learning

As rat models became proficient at learning new motor skills, they developed synchronous low-frequency oscillatory activity in two brain areas that were recorded that emerged across the cerebellum and motor cortex networks with skill consolidation.

This shows a drawing of a person playing piano

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 20, 2022·5 min read

Brain Stimulation Improves Motor Skill Learning at Older Age

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation applied to the motor cortex can help improve age-related impairments in learning new motor skills.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 23, 2022·1 min read

Physical Consequences Improve Motor Learning

Physical consequences such as accidental slipping help improve and prolong motor learning, a new study reports.

This shows a drawing of a mouse on a wheel and a print out of brain waves

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·March 22, 2021·6 min read

Researchers Close in on Root of Slow Motor Learning in Autism

Motor learning deficits associated with autism may be the result of reduced levels of noradrenaline release in the primary motor cortex.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 4, 2020·4 min read

Exercise boosts motor skill learning via changes in brain’s transmitters

Neurons in the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus, an area of the brain that regulates motor coordination, switch neurotransmitters from acetylcholine to GABA as a result of exercise. The switch appears to provide feedback control that regulates motor coordination and skill learning.