O efeito da aprendizagem perceptiva visual na aprendizagem motora

Abstract

To produce a movement the individual has to perceive information, decide on what to do over it, and program how the movement will be made. Several studies have indicated that the perception of visual information has great importance in motor planning and that the greater demand for searching and processing this information positively influences motor learning. Efficiency in perceiving information can be achieved through perceptual learning. One might hypothesize that a more efficient perception of visual information would benefit motor learning. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of visual perceptual learning on motor learning. 24 right-handed, inexperienced in the perceptual and motor tasks male and female individuals (24.30 ± 5.16 years) participated in this study. The perceptual task consisted of discriminating the coherent movement of subattentional dots. The motor task consisted of performing a manual aiming toward a target. In some motor task conditions, the visual feedback of the aiming trajectory was distorted by 45º clockwise. Visual perceptual learning took place before motor learning. Participants were allocated into two groups: the perceptual learning group and the control group. Groups were matched by the participant’s coherent movement perception threshold. Perceptual learning phase consisted of pre-test (480 trials), perceptual task practice (12 sessions of 110 trials each) and post-test (480 trials). Control group did not practice the perceptual task. Motor learning phase consisted of five conditions of 54 trials each: baseline (no feedback distortion), distortion_part1 (with feedback distortion), distortion_ part2 (with feedback distortion), washout (no feedback distortion), and recall (with feedback distortion). Electroencephalographic activity (EEG) was recorded at the pre and post-test and during all motor task conditions. Dependent variables were coherent movement direction discrimination, EEG – Engagement Index, reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and root mean square error at peak velocity (RMSE_PV) and at the end of the movement (RMSE_END). Analyzes of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted. The results indicate that there was visual perceptual learning in the perceptual learning group and it seems that motor planning was influenced by the greater perceptual efficiency since a lower RT and RMSE_PV were found in the initial phase of motor learning. However, the improvement in perception does not seem to be adaptive, as it did not contribute positively to the sensorimotor adaptation required in conditions with distortion of visual feedback. The findings show that the improvement of visual perception can benefit planning in motor learning, however, it may not contribute in situations where there is a demand for visuomotor adaptation.