Investigating the behavioural and neurophysiological underpinnings of a novel bimanual motor learning task

Thesis

In daily life, we perform many tasks with both hands that require the cooperative and skilled interaction between hands, such as keyboard typing. However, our understanding of the behavioural and neurophysiological underpinnings of how we produce and learn cooperative bimanual skills is sparse.

In this thesis, I addressed this by designing a novel task that measures unimanual as well as different levels of bimanual motor learning. With the novel task, I conducted four independent experiments to answer distinct questions, including characterising learning, and generalisability, as well as understanding learning-related neurophysiological changes using non-invasive brain stimulation and Magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Firstly, I aimed to quantify the learning-related changes of unimanual as well as different levels of bimanual motor learning. Results indicated that the novel task was successfully implemented to characterise learning. Secondly, I investigated if the learning could be modulated with non-invasive brain stimulation using a double-blind sham-controlled study. I replicated the behavioural results of the first experiment, but the applied stimulation did not affect learning the task. Thirdly, I developed different online versions of the task (i.e., training tasks) to measure if this variability across training tasks affected learning and the transfer of learning to multiple transfer tasks. Results indicated that learning depended on the training task, whereas transfer of learning was independent of the training task and depended on the transfer task. Fourthly, I characterised the neural activity of learning the different levels of bimanual interaction with MEG. Results yielded movement-related beta power modulations which were different between the unimanual and bimanual condition. However, they did not differ between the bimanual conditions and did not change with learning.

Taken together, this work provides new insights into how we produce and learn bimanual skills as the task described here allows for a richer description of bimanual interaction. Testing different versions of the task highlights the complex relationship between learning and transfer of learning. Further, this work contributes to our understanding of the neural underpinnings of unimanual and bimanual movements and give directions for future research.

Authors: Schoenfeld, MJ

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-6rx14wwvz
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: bihemispheric stimulation; brain stimulation; magnetoencephalography; beta activity; unimanual motor learning; transfer of learning; transcranial alternating current stimulation; online experiments; bimanual motor learning
• Subjects: Medicine; Psychology; Neurophysiology; Neuroscience