MedPath

Factors Affecting Sensory and Motor Learning

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Basic Science
Registration Number
NCT05374460
Lead Sponsor
Indiana University
Brief Summary

How participants perceive the position of their own hand in various contexts will be examined. This will include changing the visual display to suggest the hand is in a slightly different position, and asking participants to indicate where they think it is by pointing with their other hand.

Detailed Description

Hand position can be estimated visually, from an image on the retina, and proprioceptively, from sensors in the joints, muscles, and skin. The brain is thought to weight and combine available sensory estimates to form an integrated multisensory estimate. Inherent in this process is the capacity to realign one or both sensory estimates when they become spatially mismatched, as when washing dishes with the hands immersed in water, which refracts light. It is generally assumed that if a person knows about the sensory mismatch somehow, the realignment will not occur. This assumption will be tested in two experiments by giving people this information in different ways. Expt. A: Conscious awareness of the mismatch will be presented in different ways, or absent. Expt. B: Movement error feedback will be presented in different ways, or absent.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
300
Inclusion Criteria
  • Between the ages of 18-45 years old
  • Right-handed.
  • Covid has been found to have neurological effects in some people, but mostly the effects on sensorimotor control and neurophysiology are unknown. So we will only include individuals who report being free of Covid symptoms in week preceding testing.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Past or present history of seizure, stroke, any brain or peripheral nerve disease, severe head trauma, or spinal cord surgery.
  • Learning or attention conditions such as ADHD.
  • Orthopedic or pain conditions, or a history of seriously injured bones, joints or muscles in either arm.
  • Lack of normal or corrected-to-normal vision.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Realignment1 day

Measured by comparing where the subject points on a touchscreen when indicating perceived position of visual and proprioceptive targets early vs. late in the behavioral task.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Visuo-proprioceptive weighting1 day

The degree to which participant relies on vision vs. proprioception when both are available. Measured by comparing where the subject points on a touchscreen when indicating perceived position of visual vs. proprioceptive targets.

Target estimation variance1 day.

Variance with which participant estimate visual and proprioceptive target positions. Computed from where subjects point at targets on a touchscreen.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Hannah Block

🇺🇸

Bloomington, Indiana, United States

Hannah Block
🇺🇸Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Hannah Block, PhD
Contact
8128555390
hjblock@indiana.edu

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