Abstract
LEARNING a motor skill sets in motion neural processes that continue to evolve after practice has ended, a phenomenon known as consolidation1–4. Here we present psychophysical evidence for this, and show that consolidation of a motor skill was disrupted when a second motor task was learned immediately after the first. There was no disruption if four hours elapsed between learning the two motor skills, with consolidation occuring gradually over this period. Previous studies in humans and other primates have found this time-dependent disruption of consolidation only in explicit memory tasks5–12, which rely on brain structures in the medial temporal lobe9,13,14. Our results indicate that motor memories, which do not depend on the medial temporal lobe8,15, can be transformed by a similar process of consolidation. By extending the phenomenon of consolidation to motor memory, our results indicate that distinct neural systems share similar characteristics when encoding and storing new information.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, C. H. & Kandel, E. R. in The Cognitive Neurosciences (ed. Gazzaniga, M.) 19–36 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1995).
Karni, A. & Sagi, D. Nature 365, 250–252 (1993).
Tully, T., Preat, T., Boynton, S. C. & Del Vecchio, M. Cell 79, 35 (1994).
Weingartner, H. & Parker, E. (eds) Memory Consolidation: Psychobiology of Cognition (L. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, 1984).
Muller, G. & Pilzecker, A. Z. F. Psychol. 1, 1–228 (1900).
Skaggs, E. Psychol. Monogr. 34, (1925).
Sisson, D. E. J. exp. Psychol. 25, 228–233 (1939).
Milner, B. Neuropsychologia 3, 317–338 (1965).
Squire, L. R. & Alvarez, P. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 5, 169–177 (1995).
Zola-Morgan, S. & Squire, L. R. Science 250, 288–290 (1990).
McGeoch, J. & Irion, A. Am. J. Psychol. 43, 579–592 (1931).
Squire, L. R., Slater, P. & Chace, P. Science 187, 77–79 (1975).
Malamut, B. L. Saunders, R. C. & Mishkin, M. Behavl Neurosci. 98, 759–769 (1984).
Zola-Morgan, S. & Squire, L. R. Behavl Neurosci. 99, 22–34 (1985).
Corkin, S. Neuropsychologia 6, 255–265 (1969).
Shadmehr, R. & Mussa-lvaldi, F. A. J. Neurosci. 14, 3208–3224 (1994).
McGeoch, J. & Irion, A. Psychology of Human Learning 2nd edn, 299–467 (Longmans Breen, New York, 1952).
Lewis, D., Smith, N. & McAllister, D. J. exp. Psychol. 44, 247–260 (1952).
Shea, J. & Titzer, R. J. Mot. Behav. 25, 264–274 (1993).
Alvarez, P. & Squire, L. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91, 7041–7045 (1994).
McClelland, J. L., McNaughton, B. L. & O'Reilly, R. C. Psychol. Rev. 102, 419–457 (1995).
Mishkin, M., Malamut, B. & Bachevalier, J. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (eds Lynch, G., McGaugh, J. L. & Weinberger, N. M.) 65–77 (Guilford, London, 1984).
Kim, J. J., Clark, R. E. & Thompson, R. F. Behavl Neurosci. 109, 195–203 (1995).
Fujii, S., Saito, K., Miyakawa, H., Ito, K. & Kato, H. Brain Res. 555, 112–122 (1991).
Bailey, C. H. & Chen, M. Science 220, 91–93 (1983).
Castro-Alamancos, M. A., Donoghue, J. P. & Connors, B. W. J. Neurosci. 15, 5324–5333 (1995).
Kimura, A., Caria, M. A., Melis, F. & Asanuma, H. Neuroreport 5, 2372–2376 (1994).
Ito, M. Can. J. neurol. Sci. 20, Suppl. 3, 70–74 (1993).
Seeds, N. W., Williams, B. L. & Bickford, P. C. Science 270, 1992–1994 (1995).
Faye, I. thesis, MIT (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brashers-Krug, T., Shadmehr, R. & Bizzi, E. Consolidation in human motor memory. Nature 382, 252–255 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382252a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/382252a0
This article is cited by
-
Early excitatory-inhibitory cortical modifications following skill learning are associated with motor memory consolidation and plasticity overnight
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Quantifying motor adaptation in a sport-specific table tennis setting
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
No difference between using short and long intervals for distributed proficiency-based laparoscopy simulator training: a randomized trial
Surgical Endoscopy (2024)
-
Reactivation-induced motor skill modulation does not operate at a rapid micro-timescale level
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Retention of visuo-proprioceptive recalibration in estimating hand position
Scientific Reports (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.