The Use of Neuro-cognitive Strategies to Power Generalization Effect After Short-term Postural Training for Older Adults

Generalization refers to skill transfer under various working spaces following motor practice. The extent of generalization effect links causal to in-depth recognition of error properties during motor practice. Idiom says "imperfect practice makes perfect". It could be beneficial for the elderly to gain superior capacity of balance transfer skill under the short-term productive failure learning environments. In contrast to traditional visual feedback that uses error avoidance training to optimize target balance task, the present 3-year proposal is to propose three potential neuro-cognitive strategies to improve motor skill transfer following stabilometer training. The strategies are expected to enhance opportunities of error experience and motor exploration via modified visual feedback, underlying facilitations of attentional resource and error-related neural networks. In the first year, the neuro-cognitive strategy for balance practice is progressive augmentation of visual error size to improve balance skill transfer. In the second year, the neuro-cognitive strategy for balance practice is visual feedback with virtual uncertainness of motor goal. In the third year, the neuro-cognitive strategy for balance practice is stroboscopic vision. EEG and central of pressure will be processed with non-linear approaches. Graph theory will characterize EEG functional connectivity and brain network efficiency regarding to brain mechanisms for practice-related leaning transfer. Trajectories of central of pressure will be analyzed with stabilogram diffusion analysis to reveal behavior mechanisms for practice-related variations in feedback and feedforward process for error corrections.