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Time Course of Change in Movement Structure During Learning of Goal-Directed Movement

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Abstract

Primary and secondary submovements are important in human movements. The purpose of this study was to examine the time course of changes in kinematics and electromyography (EMG) parameters for primary and secondary submovements associated with the learning of a goal-directed aiming movement task. The subjects comprised 9 neurologically normal adults. They were instructed to make horizontal planar movements of elbow flexion that were both fast and accurate. The learning session comprised 20 blocks of 10 movements. Our research found that the kinematics- and EMG-related parameters of the antagonistic triceps brachii muscle gradually changed over the course of the learning period and reached a plateau that fitted an exponential function. However, the EMG parameters of the agonistic biceps brachii muscle did not markedly change. Moreover, the kinematics- and EMG-related parameters for the primary and secondary submovements varied at different rates during the motor learning. Our findings may facilitate the understanding of the learning of a goal-directed aiming movement in sports and rehabilitation settings.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Tomoya Koyama, Yuta Furuta, Aiko Den, Misa Kazama, and Miho Kawahara for their assistance with data collection in this study. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) 23700633 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and a Grant-in-Aid for Advanced Research from Niigata University of Health and Welfare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sensory and Motor Control Course, Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan

    Makoto Suzuki, Atsuhiko Matsunaga & Michinari Fukuda

  2. Department of Rehabilitation, Kitasato University School of Allied Health Sciences, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan

    Makoto Suzuki, Takayuki Kawaguchi, Ikuyo Ishizaka, Atsuhiko Matsunaga & Michinari Fukuda

  3. Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, 950-3198, Japan

    Hikari Kirimoto, Kazuhiro Sugawara & Hideaki Onishi

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, St. Marianna University, Yokohama City Seibu Hospital, Yokohama, 241-0811, Japan

    Yusuke Kasahara

  5. Department of Rehabilitation Science, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, 461-8673, Japan

    Sumio Yamada

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  1. Makoto Suzuki
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  2. Hikari Kirimoto
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Correspondence to Makoto Suzuki.

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Suzuki, M., Kirimoto, H., Sugawara, K. et al. Time Course of Change in Movement Structure During Learning of Goal-Directed Movement. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 35, 113–124 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-015-0012-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-015-0012-0

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