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This study verifies the prolonged use effect of a sport-based video game (SBV) on basketball players' visuomotor performance. Fourteen male national-level basketball players (24.3 ± 4.1 years; experience time: 6.5 ± 1.9 years) performed two baseline visits and two experimental conditions in a randomised and counterbalanced crossover study. They completed a baseline visuomotor task with and without a ball and were familiarised with the mental fatigue assessment. The experimental conditions consisted of playing an SBV and watching a documentary as control (CON) lasting 60-min each. Before and after experimental conditions, the participants performed a visuomotor task and response subjective rating of mental fatigue indicator measures (i.e., Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]), Stroop Test (i.e., accuracy and response time), and theta band from electroencephalogram. Accuracy decreased, and response time increased on visuomotor tasks with and without the ball, only for the SBV condition (p < 0.05). Subjective rating of mental fatigue (i.e., VAS), the response time on Stroop task, and theta band increased only for the SBV condition (p < 0.05). Mental fatigue induced by prolonged use of SBV impairs visuomotor performance in male basketball players, decreasing accuracy and significantly increasing response time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When humans reach to visual targets, extremely rapid (;90 ms) target-directed responses can be observed in task-relevant proximal muscles. Such express visuomotor responses are inflexibly locked in time and space to the target and have been proposed to reflect rapid visuomotor transformations conveyed subcortically via the tecto-reticulo-spinal pathway. Previously, we showed that express visuomotor responses are sensitive to explicit cue-driven information about the target, suggesting that the express pathway can be modulated by cortical signals affording contextual prestimulus expectations. Here, we show that the express visuomotor system incorporates information about the physical hand-to-target distance and contextual rules during visuospatial tasks requiring different movement amplitudes. In one experiment, we recorded the activity from two shoulder muscles as 14 participants (6 females) reached toward targets that appeared at different distances from the reaching hand. Increasing the reaching distance facilitated the generation of frequent and large express visuomotor responses. This suggests that both the direction and amplitude of veridical hand-to-target reaches are encoded along the putative subcortical express pathway. In a second experiment, we modulated the movement amplitude by asking 12 participants (4 females) to deliberately undershoot, overshoot, or stop (control) at the target. The overshoot and undershoot tasks impaired the generation of large and frequent express visuomotor responses, consistent with the inability of the express pathway to generate responses directed toward nonveridical targets as in the anti-reach task. Our findings appear to reflect strategic, cortically driven modulation of the express visuomotor circuit to facilitate rapid and effective response initiation during target-directed actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human brain's remarkable motor adaptability stems from the formation of context representations and the use of a common context representation (e.g., an invariant task structure across task contexts) derived from structural learning. However, direct evaluation of context representations and structural learning in sensorimotor tasks remains limited. This study aimed to rigorously distinguish neural representations of visual, movement, and context levels crucial for multi-context visuomotor adaptation and investigate the association between representation commonality across task contexts and adaptation performance using multivariate decoding analysis with fMRI data. Here, we focused on three distinct task contexts, two of which share a rotation structure (i.e., visuomotor rotation contexts with -90° and +90° rotations, in which the mouse cursor's movement was rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise and clockwise relative to the hand-movement direction, respectively) and the remaining one does not (i.e., mirror-reversal context where the horizontal movement of the computer mouse was inverted). This study found that visual representations (i.e., visual direction) were decoded in the occipital area, while movement representations (i.e., hand-movement direction) were decoded across various visuomotor-related regions. These findings are consistent with prior research and the widely recognized roles of those areas. Task-context representations (i.e., either -90° rotation, +90° rotation, or mirror-reversal) were also distinguishable in various brain regions. Notably, these regions largely overlapped with those encoding visual and movement representations. This overlap suggests a potential intricate dependency of encoding visual and movement directions on the context information. Moreover, we discovered that higher task performance is associated with task-context representation commonality, as evidenced by negative correlations between task performance and task-context-decoding accuracy in various brain regions, potentially supporting structural learning. Importantly, despite limited similarities between tasks (e.g., rotation and mirror-reversal contexts), such association was still observed, suggesting an efficient mechanism in the brain that extracts commonalities from di_erent task contexts (such as visuomotor rotations or mirror-reversal) at multiple structural levels, from high-level abstractions to lower-level details. In summary, while illuminating the intricate interplay between visuomotor processing and context information, our study highlights the efficiency of learning mechanisms, thereby paving the way for future exploration of the brain's versatile motor ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential tremor (ET) is a progressive movement disorder whose pathophysiology is not fully understood. Current evidence supports the view that the cerebellum is critically involved in the genesis of the tremor in ET. However, it is still unknown whether cerebellar dysfunction affects not only the control of current movements but also the prediction of future movements through dynamic adaptation toward a changed environment. Here, we tested the capacity of 28 patients with ET to adapt in a visuomotor adaptation task known to depend on intact cerebellar function. We found specific impairments in that task compared to age-matched healthy controls. Adaptation to the visual perturbation was disrupted in ET patients, while de-adaptation, the phase after abrupt removal of the perturbation, developed similarly to control subjects. Baseline tremor-independent motor performance was as well similar to healthy controls, indicating that adaptation deficits in ET patients were not rooted in an inability to perform goal-directed movements. There was no association between clinical severity scores of ET and early visuomotor adaptation abilities. These results provide further evidence that the cerebellum is dysfunctional in ET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on linkage between attention control, gaze and visuomotor control, previous studies suggested that quiet eye training (QET) could improve attention control. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of QET-based visuomotor intervention on different aspects of attention in children with ADHD. Fifty seven children with ADHD aged 9-12 years, were tested on focused, tonic and phasic attention, as well as attention control during a throwing task analysed via eye tracking, in pre- and post-test sessions, six weeks apart. The QET group that underwent specific 5-week QET-based intervention significantly increased focused attention including its accuracy aspect. Reaction times (RTs) and intraindividual RT variability under non-alert and alert conditions as measures of tonic and phasic attention did not change over time in either group. In contrast with the control (CON) group, an extended total time of eye fixations during the pre-throw and throw phase was found in the QET group after the intervention. The results of this study suggest that focused attention in children with ADHD can be improved by a short-term QET-based visuomotor intervention. Future research needs to examine the effects of a longer QET-based intervention, or the intervention in combination with other cognitive training of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has highlighted the role of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in perceptual, cognitive, and motor tasks. However, the exact involvement of these neurochemical mechanisms in the chain of information processing, and across human development, is unclear. In a cross-sectional longitudinal design, we used a computational approach to dissociate cognitive, decision, and visuomotor processing in 293 individuals spanning early childhood to adulthood. We found that glutamate and GABA within the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) explained unique variance in visuomotor processing, with higher glutamate predicting poorer visuomotor processing in younger participants but better visuomotor processing in mature participants, while GABA showed the opposite pattern. These findings, which were neurochemically, neuroanatomically and functionally specific, were replicated ~21 mo later and were generalized in two further different behavioral tasks. Using resting functional MRI, we revealed that the relationship between IPS neurochemicals and visuomotor processing is mediated by functional connectivity in the visuomotor network. We then extended our findings to high-level cognitive behavior by predicting fluid intelligence performance. We present evidence that fluid intelligence performance is explained by IPS GABA and glutamate and is mediated by visuomotor processing. However, this evidence was obtained using an uncorrected alpha and needs to be replicated in future studies. These results provide an integrative biological and psychological mechanistic explanation that links cognitive processes and neurotransmitters across human development and establishes their potential involvement in intelligent behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive evidence has suggested functional connections between co-occurring visuomotor and social cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders; however, such association has not been studied in bipolar disorder (BD). We aimed to investigate the relationship between visuomotor coordination and social cognition in the euthymic stage of BD (euBD). Given the shared neurobiological underpinnings involving the dopaminergic system and corticostriatal circuitry, we hypothesized a positive correlation between social cognition and visuomotor coordination in euBD patients. 40 euBD patients and 59 healthy control (HC) participants underwent evaluation of social (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy 2-Taiwan version (DANVA-2-TW)), non-social cognitive function and visuomotor coordination. A subgroup of participants completed single-photon emission computed tomography for striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability assessment. EuBD patients showed impaired nonverbal emotion recognition (ps ≤ 0.033) and poorer visuomotor coordination (ps < 0.003) compared to HC, with a positive correlation between these two abilities (r = 0.55, p < 0.01). However, after considering potential confounding factors, instead of visuomotor coordination, striatal DAT availability was a unique predictor of emotion recognition accuracy in euBD (beta = 0.33, p = 0.001). Our study result supported a functional association between social cognition and visuomotor coordination in euBD, with striatal dopaminergic dysfunction emerged as a crucial contributing factor in their interrelation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When visual distractors are presented far from the goal of an impending voluntary saccadic eye movement, saccade execution will occur less frequently about 90 ms after distractor appearance, a phenomenon known as saccadic inhibition. However, it is also known that neural responses in visual and visuomotor areas of the brain will be attenuated if a visual stimulus appears several times in the same location in rapid succession. In particular, such visual adaptation can affect neurons in the mammalian superior colliculus (SC). As the SC is known to be intimately involved in the production of saccadic eye movements, and thus perhaps in saccadic inhibition, we used a memory-guided saccade task to test whether saccadic inhibition in humans would diminish if a distractor appeared several times in quick succession. We found that distractor repetition reduced saccadic inhibition considerably when distractors appeared opposite in space to the goal of the impending saccade. In addition, when three distractors appeared in quick succession but in different, spatially disparate locations, with only the final distractor appearing opposite the saccade goal, saccadic inhibition was reduced by an intermediate level, suggesting that its reduction due to distractor inhibition spatially generalizes. This suggests that distractor suppression can help reduce the impact that suddenly appearing visual stimuli have on purposive eye movement behavior. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This work combines approaches studying saccadic inhibition and visual adaptation to demonstrate that saccadic inhibition is largely eliminated with stimulus repetition. This is likely to be the largest demonstrated effect of visual stimulus context on saccadic inhibition. It also provides evidence for the existence of a mechanism that acts to suppress the effect of frequently appearing visual stimuli on purposive eye movement behavior in dynamic visual environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological function of the Mu rhythm (8–13 Hz in the central region) is still unclear, particularly its role in visuomotor performance in sports (shooting vs. golf putting), as both the complexity of the motor skills (i.e., simple vs. complex visuomotor skills) and the skill level (e.g., novices vs. experts or low-skilled vs. highly skilled) may modulate Mu rhythm. To gain a broader understanding of the association between Mu rhythm and visuomotor skill performance, a study design that considers both a control moderator (the difference in skill level) and the ability to manipulate Mu rhythm (i.e., either increase or decrease Mu rhythm) is required. To achieve this, we recruited 30 novice golfers who were randomly assigned to either the increased Mu rhythm group (IMG), decreased Mu rhythm group (DMG), or sham group (SG) and used electroencephalographic-neurofeedback training (EEG-NFT) to manipulate Mu rhythm during a golf putting task (complex visuomotor skill). The aim was to determine whether the complexity of the motor skill was a potential moderator of Mu rhythm. We mainly found that Mu power was significantly decreased in the DMG following EEG-NFT, which lead to increased motor control and improved performance. We suggest that (1) the complexity of the motor skill, rather than the difference in skill level, may be a potential moderator of Mu rhythm and visuomotor performance, as our results were not consistent with a previous study that reported that increased Mu rhythm improved shooting performance (a simple visuomotor task) in novices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the change in horizontal saccadic eye movement and smooth pursuit in patients with acquired comitant esotropia (ACE), before and after strabismus surgery. The horizontal saccades and pursuit in 11 patients with ACE were recorded using a video eye-tracker under binocular viewing before and after strabismus surgery. Participants were instructed to fixate on the new target as rapidly as possible when it randomly appeared at either 18.3° rightward or 18.3° leftward. For smooth pursuit, participants were asked to track, as accurately as possible, a step-ramp target moving at ±6.1°/s. The asymmetry of adduction-abduction and the binocular coordination in gains of saccade and pursuit were compared between the pre- and post-surgical data. The asymmetry of adduction-abduction saccade gain in each eye after surgery tended to be smaller than that before surgery. The binocular coordination of saccade showed significant improvement after surgery in only the non-dominant eye direction. Adduction-abduction asymmetry in the smooth pursuit gain in each eye after surgery tended to be smaller than before surgery. After surgery, the binocular coordination of pursuit was improved significantly in both directions. In patients with ACE, binocular coordination of saccade and smooth pursuit was poor. Binocular coordination of saccade and pursuit seems to be improved due to the improvement in ocular deviation angle and binocular visual function after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing evidences have indicated neurodevelopmental disorders in infantile esotropia (IE). However, few studies have analyzed the characteristics of large‐scale functional networks of IE patients or their postoperative network‐level alterations. Methods: Here, individuals with IE (n = 32) and healthy subjects (n = 30) accomplished the baseline clinical examinations and resting‐state MRI scans. A total of 17 IE patients also underwent corrective surgeries and completed the longitudinal clinical assessments and resting‐state MRI scans. Linear mixed effects models were applied for cross‐sectional and longitudinal network‐level analyses. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between longitudinal functional connectivity (FC) alterations and baseline clinical variables. Results: In cross‐sectional analyses, network‐level FC were apparently aberrant in IE patients compared to controls. In longitudinal analyses, intra‐ and internetwork connectivity were observed with significant alterations in postoperative IE patients compared to the preoperative counterparts. Longitudinal FC changes are negatively correlated to the age at surgery in IE. Conclusions: Obviously, altered network‐level FC benefiting from the corrective surgery serves as the neurobiological substrate of the observed improvement of stereovision, visuomotor coordination, and emotional management in postoperative IE patients. Corrective surgery should be performed as early as possible to obtain more benefits for IE in brain function recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We performed a pilot study on whether tablet-based measures of manual dexterity can provide behavioral markers for detection of first-episode psychosis (FEP), and whether cortical excitability/inhibition was altered in FEP. Methods: Behavioral and neurophysiological testing was undertaken in persons diagnosed with FEP (N = 20), schizophrenia (SCZ, N = 20), autism spectrum disorder (ASD, N = 20), and in healthy control subjects (N = 20). Five tablet tasks assessed different motor and cognitive functions: Finger Recognition for effector (finger) selection and mental rotation, Rhythm Tapping for temporal control, Sequence Tapping for control/memorization of motor sequences, Multi Finger Tapping for finger individuation, and Line Tracking for visuomotor control. Discrimination of FEP (from other groups) based on tablet-based measures was compared to discrimination through clinical neurological soft signs (NSS). Cortical excitability/inhibition, and cerebellar brain inhibition were assessed with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Results: Compared to controls, FEP patients showed slower reaction times and higher errors in Finger Recognition, and more variability in Rhythm Tapping. Variability in Rhythm Tapping showed highest specificity for the identification of FEP patients compared to all other groups (FEP vs. ASD/SCZ/Controls; 75% sensitivity, 90% specificity, AUC = 0.83) compared to clinical NSS (95% sensitivity, 22% specificity, AUC = 0.49). Random Forest analysis confirmed FEP discrimination vs. other groups based on dexterity variables (100% sensitivity, 85% specificity, balanced accuracy = 92%). The FEP group had reduced short-latency intra-cortical inhibition (but similar excitability) compared to controls, SCZ, and ASD. Cerebellar inhibition showed a non-significant tendency to be weaker in FEP. Conclusion: FEP patients show a distinctive pattern of dexterity impairments and weaker cortical inhibition. Easy-to-use tablet-based measures of manual dexterity capture neurological deficits in FEP and are promising markers for detection of FEP in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Resting‐state functional MRI (rs‐fMRI) studies in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with freezing of gait (FOG) have implicated dysfunctional connectivity over multiple resting‐state networks (RSNs). While these findings provided network‐specific insights and information related to the aberrant or altered regional functional connectivity (FC), whether these alterations have any effect on topological reorganization in PD‐FOG patients is incompletely understood. Understanding the higher order functional organization, which could be derived from the "hub" and the "rich‐club" organization of the functional networks, could be crucial to identifying the distinct and unique pattern of the network connectivity associated with PD‐FOG. Methods: In this study, we use rs‐fMRI data and graph theoretical approaches to explore the reorganization of RSN topology in PD‐FOG when compared to those without FOG. We also compared the higher order functional organization derived using the hub and rich‐club measures in the FC networks of these PD‐FOG patients to understand whether there is a topological reorganization of these hubs in PD‐FOG. Results: We found that the PD‐FOG patients showed a noticeable reorganization of hub regions. Regions that are part of the prefrontal cortex, primary somatosensory, motor, and visuomotor coordination areas were some of the regions exhibiting altered hub measures in PD‐FOG patients. We also found a significantly altered feeder and local connectivity in PD‐FOG. Conclusions: Overall, our findings demonstrate a widespread topological reorganization and disrupted higher order functional network topology in PD‐FOG that may further assist in improving our understanding of functional network disturbances associated with PD‐FOG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Craniosynostosis, which describes premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, has been associated with a variety of neurocognitive deficits. We sought to explore the cognitive profiles of the various types of single-suture, non-syndromic craniosynostosis (NSC). Methods: A retrospective review of children 6-18 years old with surgically corrected NSC who underwent neurocognitive testing (Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visuomotor Integration) from the years 2014-2022 was conducted. Results: 204 patients completed neurocognitive testing (139 sagittal, 39 metopic, 22 unicoronal, 4 lambdoid suture). 110 (54%) of the cohort was male, and 150 (74%) were White. Mean IQ was 106.10±14.01 and mean age at surgery and testing were 9.0±12.2 months and 10.9±4.0 years, respectively. Sagittal synostosis was associated with higher scores than metopic synostosis, with significant differences in verbal IQ (109.42±15.76 vs 101.37±10.41), full-scale IQ (108.32±14.44 vs 100.05±11.76), visuomotor integration (101.62±13.64 vs 92.44±12.07), visual perception (103.81±12.42 vs 95.87±11.23), and motor coordination (90.45±15.60 vs 84.21±15.44). Sagittal synostosis was associated with significantly higher scores for visuomotor integration (101.62±13.64 vs 94.95±10.24) and visual perception (103.81±12.42 vs 94.82±12.75) than unicoronal synostosis. Conclusions: Compared to patients with sagittal synostosis, patients with metopic synostosis exhibited lower scores in verbal IQ, full-scale IQ, visuomotor integration, visual perception, and motor control after surgical correction. Despite surgical correction for premature metopic suture fusion, the effect on the adjacent frontal lobe and white matter connections to other regions of the brain may have a lasting functional impact. Patients with unicoronal synostosis exhibited lower visuomotor integration and visual perception scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics is the subject in which many school-age children reveal difficulties. The literature has shown that fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, have been more robustly associated with mathematical performance. Studies have shown the importance that instruments have to evaluate these skills, however, the characteristics of these instruments do not fit the reality of kindergartens, they are usually time consuming and expensive and are usually administered by specialists. Thus, the main objective of this study was to identify, select, adapt and validate motor tests to evaluate fine motor skills associated with mathematical skills to allow the kindergarten teachers to apply them simultaneously to the class, with few material resources, in a short period of time and without the need for a lot of training to apply, score and classify. For this purpose, firstly, it was necessary to understand the main difficulties highlighted by kindergarten teachers regarding the use of instruments to evaluate fine motor skills and, thus, elaborate criteria to identify and select the tests that best fit the reality of kindergartens. The test identified, selected and adapted to evaluate fine motor coordination was threading beads from the Movement Evaluation Battery for Children, 2nd Edition. The main adaptation of the test was related to time, that is, instead of counting the time it takes the child to string the total number of cubes on the string, we counted the number of cubes the child strung on the string in a pre-defined time. To evaluate visual–motor integration, the test identified, selected and adapted was the Visual–Motor Integration (6th Edition) test. The main adaptation was related to material resources, that is, it will be possible to apply the test using only one sheet per child instead of the seven suggested by the original test. After the preliminary adaptation of the tests, their validation was performed by means of the degree of reliability (test-retest) and predictive validity. The results indicated that the adapted tests presented an excellent degree of reliability (>0.9) and could therefore be used to administer them simultaneously to the class group. The adapted Visual–Motor Integration test seems to be the most suitable one to be used by kindergarten teachers, in a classroom context, to simultaneously evaluate students' fine motor skills and associate their results with mathematical skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Liver transplantation patients faced unique challenges during the pandemic. • Challenges included dependence, fear, and stress. • Coping strategies included establishing a support network and reorganizing demands. • Patients demonstrated determination to create strategies to prevent SARS-CoV-2. • This data may inform better preparation by professionals involved in patient care. We aimed to identify the challenges and strategies experienced by patients undergoing liver transplantation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a descriptive study with a qualitative approach conducted in a large liver transplant hospital in southern Brazil. The participants included liver transplant patients between the years 2011 and 2022. Data collection was performed using a semi-structured interview. Data analysis comprised approximation of information and calculation of percentages. A total of 23 patients participated. Challenges identified included an increased dependence on others for daily activities, fear and stress due to the possibility of contamination, and the need for isolation from family and friends. Strategies included adaptation to the daily routine, reorganization of tasks inside and outside the home, formation of a support network, and reduced attendance to consultations and exams. Evidence of anguish and suffering of patients facing isolation and separation from family members was observed. Still, the study revealed the strength and determination of the patients to create strategies for preventing the SARS-CoV-2 virus and caring for themselves and their families. The study demonstrates the need for support from the health team in the face of such a scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quiet Eye (QE) has been accounted as a mechanism that contributes to visuomotor coordination, an important process in athletic performance. QE is defined as the final fixation on a specific location or object in the visuomotor workspace, within 3° of visual angle, for a minimum of 100 ms that enables the athletes to gather relevant information before a critical movement. Several lines of research have shown that QE is affected by stress and that this alteration further leads to decreased task performance. The present study determined whether stress affects QE in elite table tennis performance. Athletes performed a table tennis exercise in which they had to hit a sequence of 100 balls. Each athlete underwent the exercise in a stressful condition and in a non-stressful one, while gaze behaviour was captured using Tobii Glasses 2 eye tracking system. We first found that athletes made longer QE before successfully hit balls than before missed balls, confirming that longer QE supports accuracy. More importantly, QE and performance decreased in the stressful condition, but athletes still displayed longer QE durations in hit, compared to missed balls under stress. The present results show that stress affects QE and, subsequently, performance, but also that better performance under stress is associated with longer QE duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropeptide orexin mainly exists in neurons within and around the lateral hypothalamus and exhibits high affinity to orexin 1 and 2 receptors (OX1R and OX2R, respectively). Orexinergic neurons send their axons to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which expresses OX1Rs. Previous studies have shown the involvement of orexins and their role in learning and memory processes in the dorsal raphe nucleus and hippocampus. However, no study has examined the effects of orexins in the NAc on memory. The present study examined the effect of the post-training and pre-probe trial intra-NAc administration of SB-33486-A (OX1R antagonist, 12 μg/0.5μl) and TCS-OX2-29 (OX2R antagonist, 10 μg/0.5 μl) on the consolidation and retrieval of memory in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) task. In experiment 1, rats were trained in the MWM and, immediately after every training, received bilateral injections of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (control group), SB-334867-A (SB), and TCS-OX2-29 (TCS) into the NAc. Experiment 2 was similar to experiment 1, except that the rats received DMSO, SB, and TCS 15 min before the probe test. Probe and visible tests were performed after the last training, and the distance moved, escape latency, and velocity were recorded. In experiment 3, rats trained in experiments 1 and 2, immediately after the probe test, were given the trials for visuomotor coordination assessment on the visible platform. According to the results, the injection of SB increased the distance moved and escape latency in the treated groups, compared to the control group, in the consolidation phase of spatial memory (P<0.05) but not in its retrieval phase (P>0.05). However, TCSOX2-29 had no effect. These results suggest that the inactivation of the NAc OX1Rs, but not OX2Rs, impairs the consolidation but not the retrieval of spatial memory in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The role of motor skills in reading seems counter-intuitive, and thus it has played a minor role in studies on predictors of reading skills. The results of some studies indicate that the connection between motor skills and reading is present and that it depends on the examined motor component. Objective. The aim of this research was to determine the relation between visuomotor coordination and visuomotor integration with reading skills in younger school-age students. Methods. The sample included 103 participants aged 9 to 11 years. A Likert-type scale with four descriptors covering the most common types of problems during reading was used to evaluate reading skills. Fine motor skills were assessed with the subtests of the Acadia Test of Developmental Abilities - Visuomotor Coordination and Sequencing and Figure Copying. Intelligence, working memory, and inhibitory control were selected as covariates. Intelligence was assessed by Raven's Progressive Matrices, working memory by the Digit Span Backward task, and inhibitory control by the Go/NoGo task. Results. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that visuomotor coordination and working memory are independent predictors of reading skills. Visuomotor coordination explains 5.2% of the variance after removing the influence of intelligence and basic executive functions. A statistically significant relationship between visuomotor integration and reading skills was not found, so visuomotor integration was not considered a predictor in further analysis. Conclusion. When considering the importance of fine motor skills, it is necessary to analyze its individual components, because the results of this, as well as previous studies, indicate that not all aspects of fine motor skills are equally important factors in the development of reading skills. In the context of preventing difficulties in learning to read, it would be desirable to apply activities that would stimulate the development of fine motor skills and working memory from preschool age.

Since the seminal work of Heider and Simmel, and Michotte's research, many studies have shown that, under appropriate conditions, displays of simple geometric shapes elicit rich and vivid impressions of animacy and intentionality. The main purpose of this review is to emphasize the close relationship between kinematics and perceived animacy by showing which specific motion cues and spatiotemporal patterns automatically trigger visual perceptions of animacy and intentionality. The animacy phenomenon has been demonstrated to be rather fast, automatic, irresistible, and highly stimulus-driven. Moreover, there is growing evidence that animacy attributions, although usually associated with higherlevel cognition and long-term memory, may reflect highly specialized visual processes that have evolved to support adaptive behaviors critical for survival. The hypothesis of a life-detector hardwired in the perceptual system is also supported by recent studies in early development and animal cognition, as well as by the issue of the "irresistibility" criterion, i.e., the persistence of animacy perception in adulthood even in the face of conflicting background knowledge. Finally, further support for the hypothesis that animacy is processed in the earliest stages of vision comes from recent experimental evidence on the interaction of animacy with other visual processes, such as visuomotor performance, visual memory, and speed estimation. Summarizing, the ability to detect animacy in all its nuances may be related to the visual system's sensitivity to those changes in kinematics -- considered as a multifactorial relational system - that are associated with the presence of living beings, as opposed to the natural, inert behavior of physically constrained, form-invariant objects, or even mutually independent moving agents. This broad predisposition would allow the observer not only to identify the presence of animates and to distinguish them from inanimate, but also to quickly grasp their psychological, emotional, and social characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proficiency of multisensory processing and motor skill are often associated with early cognitive, social, and language development. However, little research exists regarding the relationship between multisensory motor reaction times (MRTs) to auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli, and classical measures of receptive language and expressive vocabulary development in school-age children. Thus, this study aimed to examine the concurrent development of performance in classical tests of receptive (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; abbreviated as PPVT) and expressive vocabulary (Expressive Vocabulary Test; abbreviated as EVT), nonverbal intelligence (NVIQ) (determined with the aid of Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices; abbreviated as RCPM), speed of visual–verbal processing in the Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) test, Eye–Hand Co-ordination (EHC) in the SLURP task, and multisensory MRTs, in children (n = 75), aged between 5 and 10 years. Bayesian statistical analysis showed evidence for age group differences in EVT performance, while PPVT was only different for the youngest group of children aged 5–6, supporting different developmental trajectories in vocabulary acquisition. Bayesian correlations revealed evidence for associations between age, NVIQ, and vocabulary measures, with decisive evidence and a higher correlation (r = 0.57 to 0.68) between EVT, MRT tasks, and EHC visuomotor processing. This was further supported by regression analyses indicating that EVT performance was the strongest unique predictor of multisensory MRTs, EHC, and RAN time. Additionally, visual MRTs were found to predict both receptive and expressive vocabulary. The findings of the study have important implications as accessible school-based assessments of the concurrent development of NVIQ, language, and multisensory processing; and hence as rapid and timely measures of developmental and neurodevelopmental status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing internally on movement control or bodily sensations is frequently shown to disrupt the effectiveness and efficiency of motor control when compared to focusing externally on the outcome of movement. Whilst the behavioral consequences of these attentional strategies are well‐documented, it is unclear how they are explained at the corticomuscular level. The aim of the present study was to investigate how attentional focus strategies affect kinetic, cortical, muscular, and corticomuscular activity during an isometric force precision task. In a repeated measures design, we measured force, EEG and EMG activity from twenty‐seven participants who performed isometric contractions of the right hand whilst encouraged to adopt either an internal or external focus through a combination of instructions, secondary tasks, and self‐report evaluations. Results indicated that focusing internally led to poorer force accuracy and steadiness compared to an external focus. An internal focus also increased muscle activity of the forearm flexor, increased EEG alpha activity across the parieto‐occipital cortex, lowered frontal midline EEG theta activity, and lowered beta corticomuscular coherence between the forearm flexor and contralateral motor cortex. The results of this study provide a holistic understanding of how attentional focus strategies alter corticomuscular control during an isometric force precision task, paving the way for exploring how the behavioral consequences of attentional strategies can be explained at the corticomuscular levels across a wide range of motor tasks and contexts. This study provides a holistic corticomuscular account of how attentional strategies alter visuomotor control. Focusing internally toward movement kinematics disrupts isometric force precision, elevates occipital alpha, lowers frontal midline theta, and impairs beta corticomuscular coherence between the muscles and sensorimotor cortex, compared to focusing externally toward the consequences of movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ablation surgeries are utilized to treat certain brain disorders. Recently, these surgeries have become more prevalent using techniques such as magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) ablation and Gamma knife thalamotomy (GKT). However, as the thalamus plays a critical role in cognitive functions, the potential impact of these surgeries on functional connectivity and cognition is a matter of concern. Various approaches have been developed to locate the target for ablation and also investigate changes in functional connectivity before and after surgery. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) are widely used methods for assessing changes in functional connectivity and activity in clinical research. In this Review, we summarize the use of fMRI and EEG in thalamotomy surgeries. Our analysis shows that thalamotomy surgery can result in changes in functional connectivity in motor-related, visuomotor, and default-mode networks, as detected by fMRI. EEG data also indicate a reduction in over-activities observed in the preoperative state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Beta oscillations in sensorimotor structures contribute to the planning, sequencing, and stopping of movements, functions that are typically associated with the role of the basal ganglia. The presence of beta oscillations (13-30 Hz) in the cerebellar zone of the thalamus (the ventral intermediate nucleus - Vim) indicates that this rhythm may also be involved in cerebellar functions such as motor learning and visuomotor adaptation. Methods: To investigate the possible role of Vim beta oscillations in visuomotor coordination, we recorded local field potential (LFP) and multiunit activity from the Vim of essential tremor (ET) patients during neurosurgery for the implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes. Using a computer, patients performed a visuomotor adaptation task that required coordinating center-out movements with incongruent visual feedback imposed by inversion of the computer display. Results: The results show that, in ET, Vim beta oscillations of the LFP were lower during the incongruent center-out task than during the congruent orientation. Vim firing rates increased significantly during periods of low beta power, particularly on approach to the peripheral target. In contrast, beta power in the subthalamic nucleus of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients did not differ significantly between the incongruent and the congruent orientation of the center-out task. Discussion: The findings support the hypothesis that beta oscillations of the Vim are modulated by novel visuomotor tasks. The inverse relationship between the power of Vim-LFP beta oscillations and Vim firing rates suggest that the suppression of beta oscillations may facilitate information throughput to the thalamocortical circuit by modulation of Vim firing rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Visuomotor dual-tasking caused poorer driving in all age groups. • This deterioration in driving performance worsened with increasing age. • Higher midfrontal theta power when dual-tasking indicated increased cognitive control. • The less distinct theta increase with aging implied a possible saturation of mental resources. • Lateral vehicle control did not deteriorate in the presence of a visuocognitive task. Driving is a complex activity, entailing concurrent preparation and execution of motor behavior, and processing of cognitive information. Dual-tasking often leads to performance decrements, especially when the subtasks require similar neural resources, e.g., controlling the steering wheel, handling the pedals and shifting gears. With higher age, the ability to simultaneously perform different tasks deteriorates, as more mental resources are required for accurate coordination of movements. Therefore, using electroencephalography, we measured the neural correlates of dual-task driving in 81 healthy younger (n = 27), middle-aged (n = 25) and older adults (n = 29). A visuocognitive and a visuomotor dual-task were combined with a simulated lane-keeping task, with the latter dual-task requiring more similar resources. As expected, steering precision decreased to a higher extent when combined with a visuomotor dual-task in all participants, compared to no deterioration in the visuocognitive dual-task. Yet, this visuomotor dual-task performance decrease was more prominent with increasing age. Remarkably, although midfrontal theta power increased in all groups when a visuomotor dual-task was added, indicating the recruitment of additional mental resources, this increase was less prominent for middle-aged and older adults. This could signify a plateau effect of theta power in which a saturation of mental resources is reached, leading to an increased dual-task cost. Therefore, reducing driver task demands by limiting the need for motor control processing, e.g., by switching to automatic gear shifting, could be beneficial for driving safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroboscopic training is based on an exercise with intermittent visual stimuli that force a greater demand on the visuomotor processing for improving performance under normal vision. While the stroboscopic effect is used as an effective tool to improve information processing in general perceptual-cognitive tasks, there is still a lack of research focused on identifying training protocols for sport-specific settings. Therefore, we aimed at assessing the effects of in-situ stroboscopic training on visual, visuomotor and reactive agility in young volleyball players. Methods: Fifty young volleyball athletes (26 males and 24 females; mean age, 16.5 ± 0.6 years) participated in this study and were each divided randomly into an experimental group and a control group, who then both performed identical volleyball-specific tasks, with the experimental group under stroboscopic influence. The participants were evaluated three times using laboratory based tests for simple and complex reaction speed, sensory sensitivity and saccade dynamics; before the after the 6-week-long training (short-term effect) and 4 weeks later (long-term effect). In addition, a field test investigated the effects of the training on reactive agility. Results: A significant TIME vs GROUP effect was observed for (1) simple motor time (p = 0.020, ηp² = 0.08), with improvement in the stroboscopic group in the post-test and retention test (p = 0.003, d = 0.42 and p = 0.027, d = 0.35, respectively); (2) complex reaction speed (p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.22), with a large post-test effect in the stroboscopic group (p < 0.001, d = 0.87) and a small effect in the non-stroboscopic group (p = 0.010, d = 0.31); (3) saccade dynamics (p = 0.011, ηp² = 0.09), with post- hoc tests in the stroboscopic group not reaching significance (p = 0.083, d = 0.54); and (4) reactive agility (p = 0.039, ηp² = 0.07), with a post-test improvement in the stroboscopic group (p = 0.017, d = 0.49). Neither sensory sensitivity nor simple reaction time was statistically significantly affected as a result of the training (p > 0.05). A significant TIME vs GENDER effect was observed for saccadic dynamics (p = 0.003, ηp² = 0.226) and reactive agility (p = 0.004, ηp² = 0.213), with stronger performance gains in the females. Conclusions: There was a larger effectiveness from the 6-week volleyball-specific training in the stroboscopic group compared to the non-stroboscopic group. The stroboscopic training resulted in significant improvements on most measures (three of five) of visual and visuomotor function with more marked enhancement in visuomotor than in sensory processing. Also, the stroboscopic intervention improved reactive agility, with more pronounced performance gains for short-term compared to the long-term changes. Gender differences in response to the stroboscopic training are inconclusive, therefore our findings do not offer a clear consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans generate categories from complex regularities evolving across even imperfect sensory input. Here, we examined the possibility that incidental experiences can generate lasting category knowledge. Adults practiced a simple visuomotor task not dependent on acoustic input. Novel categories of acoustically complex sounds were not necessary for task success but aligned incidentally with distinct visuomotor responses in the task. Incidental sound category learning emerged robustly when within-category sound exemplar variability was closely yoked to visuomotor task demands and was not apparent in the initial session when this coupling was less robust. Nonetheless, incidentally acquired sound category knowledge was evident in both cases one day later, indicative of offline learning gains and, nine days later, learning in both cases supported explicit category labeling of novel sounds. Thus, a relatively brief incidental experience with multidimensional sound patterns aligned with behaviorally relevant actions and events can generate new sound categories, immediately after the learning experience or a day later. These categories undergo consolidation into long-term memory to support robust generalization of learning, rather than simply reflecting recall of specific sound-pattern exemplars previously encountered. Humans thus forage for information to acquire and consolidate new knowledge that may incidentally support behavior, even when learning is not strictly necessary for performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: How does gravity (or lack thereof) affect sensory-motor processing? We analyze sensorimotor estimation dynamics for line segments with varying direction (orientation) in a 7-day dry immersion (DI), a ground-based model of gravitational unloading. Methods: The measurements were carried out before the start of the DI, on the first, third, fifth and seventh days of the DI, and after its completion. At the memorization stage, the volunteers led the leading hand along the visible segment on a touchscreen display, and at the reproduction stage they repeated this movement on an empty screen. A control group followed the same procedure without DI. Results: Both in the DI and control groups, when memorizing, the overall error in estimating the lengths and directions of the segments was small and did not have pronounced dynamics; when reproducing, an oblique effect (higher variability of responses to oblique orientations compared to cardinal ones) was obtained. We then separated biases (systematic error) and uncertainty (random error) in subjects' responses. At the same time, two opposite trends were more pronounced in the DI group during the DI. On the one hand the cardinal bias (a repulsion of orientation estimates away from cardinal axes) and, to a small extent, the variability of direction estimates decreased. On the other hand, the overestimation bias in length estimates increased. Discussion: Such error pattern strongly supports the hypotheses of the vector encoding, in which the direction and length of the planned movement are encoded independently of each other when the DI disrupts primarily the movement length encoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Working memory (WM) is a well-known fundamental ability related to various high-level cognitive functions, such as executive functioning, decision-making, and problem-solving. Although previous studies have posited that chronic exercise may improve cognitive functions, its underlying neural mechanisms and whether habitual exercise is associated with individual WM ability remain unclear. Methods: In the current study, 36 participants reported their habitual physical activity through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). In addition to assessments of intelligence quotient (IQ), WM storage capacity (K score), and visuomotor coordination capacity, electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded while the participants performed a WM precision task fusing conventional visual and motor retrospective cue (retro-cue) WM tasks. Results: We found that greater amounts of and higher frequencies of vigorous-intensity exercise were highly correlated with smaller recall errors in the WM precision task. Contralateral delay activity (CDA), a well-known WM-related event-related potential (ERP) component evoked by the valid retro-cue, predicted individual behavioral recall error. Participants who met the medium or high level of IPAQ criteria (the regular exercise group) showed smaller behavioral recall error and larger CDA than participants who did not meet the criteria (the irregular exercise group). The two groups did not differ in other assessments, such as IQ, WM storage capacity, and visuomotor coordination ability. Discussion: Habitual exercise was specifically correlated with individual differences in WM precision, rather than IQ, WM storage capacity, and visuomotor coordination ability, suggesting potential mechanisms of how modulations of chronic exercise improve cognition through visual and/or motor WM precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful goal-directed actions require constant fine-tuning of the motor system. This fine-tuning is thought to rely on an implicit adaptation process that is driven by sensory prediction errors (e.g., where you see your hand after reaching vs. where you expected it to be). Individuals with low vision experience challenges with visuomotor control, but whether low vision disrupts motor adaptation is unknown. To explore this question, we assessed individuals with low vision and matched controls with normal vision on a visuomotor task designed to isolate implicit adaptation. We found that low vision was associated with attenuated implicit adaptation only for small visual errors, but not for large visual errors. This result highlights important constraints underlying how low-fidelity visual information is processed by the sensorimotor system to enable successful implicit adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The naturally occurring variability in our movements often poses a significant challenge when attempting to produce precise and accurate actions, which is readily evident when playing a game of darts. Two differing, yet potentially complementary, control strategies that the sensorimotor system may use to regulate movement variability are impedance control and feedback control. Greater muscular co-contraction leads to greater impedance that acts to stabilize the hand, while visuomotor feedback responses can be used to rapidly correct for unexpected deviations when reaching toward a target. Here, we examined the independent roles and potential interplay of impedance control and visuomotor feedback control when regulating movement variability. Participants were instructed to perform a precise reaching task by moving a cursor through a narrow visual channel. We manipulated cursor feedback by visually amplifying movement variability and/or delaying the visual feedback of the cursor. We found that participants decreased movement variability by increasing muscular co-contraction, aligned with an impedance control strategy. Participants displayed visuomotor feedback responses during the task but, unexpectedly, there was no modulation between conditions. However, we did find a relationship between muscular co-contraction and visuomotor feedback responses, suggesting that participants modulated impedance control relative to feedback control. Taken together, our results highlight that the sensorimotor system modulates muscular co-contraction, relative to visuomotor feedback responses, to regulate movement variability and produce accurate actions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The sensorimotor system has the constant challenge of dealing with the naturally occurring variability in our movements. Here, we investigated the potential roles of muscular co-contraction and visuomotor feedback responses to regulate movement variability. When we visually amplified movements, we found that the sensorimotor system primarily uses muscular co-contraction to regulate movement variability. Interestingly, we found that muscular co-contraction was modulated relative to inherent visuomotor feedback responses, suggesting an interplay between impedance and feedback control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: The goal of this study was to analyze the association of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) location and its outcome after microsurgical excision. The relation of outcome using modified Ranklin Scale (mRS) at time of discharge, early and last follow ups with respect to location of AVM. Methods: Demographic data, AVM characteristics, and treatment outcomes were evaluated in 47 bAVMs treated with microsurgery between November 2009 and April 2021. For this series, 47 patients were retrospectively reviewed. The mRS was used to assess functional outcome post-surgery with respect to its location Outcomes: Forty-seven patients (32% female) and 68% male; average age 33.4 years) with brain AVMs were included in this review. Among the AVMs, the mean size was 5.5cm, 83% with hemorrhage, 63% with deep drainage, mean SM grade is 2.74. The non-eloquent AVM comprised of 25.5%. The most common eloquent location was language (36.2%), followed by sensorimotor (23.4%), visual 8.5% and coordination 6.4%. Motor mapping was done in all cases of brain AVM with sensorimotor eloquence. There was no statically significant difference in the baseline patient and AVM characteristics among different subtypes of eloquence. Favorable outcome (mRS 0-2) was seen on both eloquent (100% in visual) and non-eloquent AVMs. Age and AVM size were significant predictor for good overall outcome in last follow-up. Conclusion: Although the sample size of this study is a limitation, the result of our case series demonstrated excellent surgical outcome for visual eloquence, good outcome in sensorimotor and language eloquence. Coordination eloquence had worse overall outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficits in fine motor skills have been reported in some children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as amblyopia or strabismus. Therefore, monitoring the development of motor skills and any potential improvement due to therapy is an important clinical goal. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of performing a kinematic assessment within an optometric setting using inexpensive, portable, off-the-shelf equipment. The study also assessed whether kinematic data could enhance the information provided by a routine motor function screening test (the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, MABC). Using the MABC-2, upper limb dexterity was measured in a cohort of 47 typically developing children (7–15 years old), and the Leap motion capture system was used to record hand kinematics while children performed a bead-threading task. Two children with a history of amblyopia were also tested to explore the utility of a kinematic assessment in a clinical population. For the typically developing children, visual acuity and stereoacuity were within the normal range; however, the average standardized MABC-2 scores were lower than published norms. Comparing MABC-2 and kinematic measures in the two children with amblyopia revealed that both assessments provide convergent results and revealed deficits in fine motor control. In conclusion, kinematic assessment can augment standardized tests of fine motor skills in an optometric setting and may be useful for measuring visuomotor function and monitoring treatment outcomes in children with binocular vision anomalies.

We sought to determine whether a putative lower-visual field (loVF) advantage for projections to the visuomotor networks of the dorsal visual pathway influences online reaching control. Participants reached to 3-dimensional depth targets presented in the loVF and upper-visual field (upVF) in binocular and monocular visual conditions, and when online vision was available (i.e., closed-loop) or unavailable (i.e., open-loop). To examine the degree to which responses were controlled online we computed the proportion of variance (R2) explained by the spatial position of the limb at distinct stages in the reaching trajectory relative to a response's ultimate movement endpoint. Results showed that binocular and closed-loop reaches exhibited shorter movement times and more online corrections (i.e., smaller R2 values) than their monocular and open-loop counterparts. Notably, however, loVF and upper-visual field reaches exhibited equivalent performance metrics across all experimental conditions. Accordingly, results provide no evidence of a loVF advantage for online reaching control to 3-dimensional targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary visual cortex (V1) retains a form of plasticity in adult humans: a brief period of monocular deprivation induces an enhanced response to the deprived eye, which can stabilize into a consolidated plastic change 1,2 despite unaltered thalamic input 3. This form of homeostatic plasticity in adults is thought to act through neuronal competition between the representations of the two eyes, which are still separate in primary visual cortex 4,5. During monocular occlusion, neurons of the deprived eye are thought to increase response gain given the absence of visual input, leading to the post-deprivation enhancement. If the decrease of reliability of the monocular response is crucial to establish homeostatic plasticity, this could be induced in several different ways. There is increasing evidence that V1 processing is affected by voluntary action, allowing it to take into account the visual effects of self-motion 6 , important for efficient active vision 7. Here we asked whether ocular dominance homeostatic plasticity could be elicited without degrading the quality of monocular visual images but simply by altering their role in visuomotor control by introducing a visual delay in one eye while participants actively performed a visuomotor task; this causes a discrepancy between what the subject sees and what he/she expects to see. Our results show that homeostatic plasticity is gated by the consistency between the monocular visual inputs and a person's actions, suggesting that action not only shapes visual processing but may also be essential for plasticity in adults. Steinwurzel et al. measured eye dominance after delaying vision to one eye during an active motor task and found similar changes of ocular dominance observed during contrast deprivation, indicating that action can reopen homeostatic plasticity of early visual cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Extrastriate Body Area (EBA) participates in the visual perception and motor actions of body parts. We recently showed that EBA's perceptual function develops independently of visual experience, responding to stimuli with body-part information in a supramodal fashion. However, it is still unclear if the EBA similarly maintains its action-related function. Here, we used fMRI to study motor-evoked responses and connectivity patterns in the congenitally blind brain. We found that, unlike the case of perception, EBA does not develop an action-related response without visual experience. In addition, we show that congenital blindness alters EBA's connectivity profile in a counterintuitive way--functional connectivity with sensorimotor cortices dramatically decreases, whereas connectivity with perception-related visual occipital cortices remains high. To the best of our knowledge, we show for the first time that action-related functions and connectivity in the visual cortex could be contingent on visuomotor experience. We further discuss the role of the EBA within the context of visuomotor control and predictive coding theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual feedback that reinforces accurate movements may motivate skill acquisition by promoting self-confidence. This study investigated neuromuscular adaptations to visuomotor training with visual feedback with virtual error reduction. Twentyeight young adults (24.6 ± 1.6 years) were assigned to error reduction (ER) (n = 14) and control (n = 14) groups to train on a bi-rhythmic force task. The ER group received visual feedback and the displayed errors were 50% of the real errors in size. The control group was trained with visual feedback with no reduction in errors. Training-related differences in task accuracy, force behaviors, and motor unit discharge were contrasted between the two groups. The tracking error of the control group progressively declined, whereas the tracking error of the ER group was not evidently reduced in the practice sessions. In the post-test, only the control group exhibited significant task improvements with smaller error size (p = .015) and force enhancement at the target frequencies (p = .001). The motor unit discharge of the control group was training-modulated, as indicated by a reduction of the mean inter-spike interval (p = .018) and smaller low-frequency discharge fluctuations (p = .017) with enhanced firing at the target frequencies of the force task (p = .002). In contrast, the ER group showed no training-related modulation of motor unit behaviors. In conclusion, for young adults, ER feedback does not induce neuromuscular adaptations to the trained visuomotor task, which is conceptually attributable to intrinsic error dead-zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dextrose gel is widely used as first-line treatment for neonatal hypoglycaemia given its cost-effectiveness and ease of use. The Sugar Babies randomized trial first showed that 40% dextrose gel was more effective in reversing hypoglycaemia than feeding alone. Follow-up of the Sugar Babies Trial cohort at 2 and 4.5 years of age reported that dextrose gel appeared safe, with similar rates of neurosensory impairment in babies randomized to dextrose or placebo gel. However, some effects of neonatal hypoglycaemia may not become apparent until school age. Methods: Follow-up of the Sugar Babies Trial cohort at 9–10 years of age was reported. The primary outcome was low educational achievement in reading or mathematics. Secondary outcomes included other aspects of educational achievement, executive function, visual-motor function, and psychosocial adaptation. Results: Of 227 eligible children, 184 (81%) were assessed at a mean (SD) age of 9.3 (0.2) years. Low educational achievement was similar in dextrose and placebo groups (36/86 [42%] vs. 42/94 [45%]; RR 1.04, 95% CI 0.76, 1.44; p = 0.79). Children allocated to dextrose gel had lower visual perception standard scores (95.2 vs. 100.6; MD −5.68, 95% CI −9.79, −1.57; p = 0.006) and a greater proportion had low (<85) visual perception scores (20/88 [23%] vs. 10/95 [11%]; RR 2.23, 95% CI 1.13, 4.37; p = 0.02). Other secondary outcomes, including other aspects of visual-motor function, were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Treatment dextrose gel does not appear to result in any clinically significant differences in educational achievement or other neurodevelopmental outcomes at mid-childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Cognitive processes such as perception and reasoning are preceded and dependent on attention. Because of the close overlap between neural circuits of attention and eye movement, attention may be objectively quantified with recording of eye movements during an attention-dependent task. Our previous work demonstrated that performance scores on a circular visual tracking task that requires dynamic synchronization of the gaze with the target motion can be impacted by concussion, sleep deprivation, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The current study examined the characteristics of performance on a standardized predictive visual tracking task in a large sample from a U.S. Military population to provide military normative data. Materials and Methods The sample consisted of 1,594 active duty military service members of either sex aged 18-29 years old who were stationed at Fort Hood Army Base. The protocol was reviewed and approved by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Institutional Review Board. Demographic, medical, and military history data were collected using questionnaires, and performance-based data were collected using a circular visual tracking test and Trail Making Test. Differences in visual tracking performance by demographic characteristics were examined with a multivariate analysis of variance, as well as a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and a rank-sum test. Associations with other measures were examined with a rank-sum test or Spearman correlations. Results Robust sex differences in visual tracking performance were found across the various statistical models, as well as age differences in several isolated comparisons. Accordingly, norms of performance scores, described in terms of percentile standings, were developed adjusting for age and sex. The effects of other measures on visual tracking performance were small or statistically non-significant. An examination of the score distributions of various metrics suggested that strategies preferred by men and women may optimize different aspects of visual tracking performance. Conclusion This large-scale quantification of attention, using dynamic visuomotor synchronization performance, provides rigorously characterized age- and sex-based military population norms. This study establishes analytics for assessing normal and impaired attention and detecting changes within individuals over time. Practical applications for combat readiness and surveillance of attention impairment from sleep insufficiency, concussion, medication, or attention disorders will be enhanced with portable, easily accessible, fast, and reliable dynamic eye-tracking technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion and focus of children during handwriting are essential for language learning. Handwriting for young children is challenging because it needs deep motivation and willingness to complete the task regardless of its difficulty. Recently, emerged haptic guidance systems have a good potential to offer children a better sense of engagement to keep their interests awake. Yet, handwriting in 3D is more challenging for children due to many reasons including demotivation, out of focus, and visuomotor coordination difficulties. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of a haptic device in analyzing schoolchildren emotion, attentiveness and handwriting performance of Arabic letters. We conducted the experiments for a period of four weeks with an immersive environment where the subjects practiced writing in VR environment using a haptic device-controlled stylus. We assessed the childrens' emotions to get insights into their engagement during such hard learning environment. We found that our approach improved the participants' fine-motor skills and handwriting quality. However, our analysis revealed that such task was effective on detecting emotions (angry/neutral) only as a negative/positive contributor of performance. Overall, the obtained findings can well contribute to the understanding of the relationship between students' emotions and other variables in an attempt to support the development of adaptive learning technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics has been the subject in which many school-age children have revealed many difficulties. Research carried out in an attempt to understand the causes of failure in this area pointed to a positive association between mathematical performance and motor performance. Given the importance of math development in future school outcomes, knowing which specific motor components are most associated with math performance can help educators define better strategies for teaching mathematics. In this sense, the present systematic review study aimed to identify the components of motor skills most positively associated with mathematical performance in children with typical development who attend preschool. The PRISMA methodology (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was used in this study. The databases searched were ERIC, PubMED, SciELO, Scopus and Web of Science. A total of 2,909 articles were identified, of which 18 were included in this systematic review. The main results showed positive associations between fine motor skills, namely fine motor coordination and visuomotor integration, and mathematical performance. The math skill of numerical counting was the most associated with FMS. The main characteristics of the instruments used showed that the tasks of copying figures or drawings are the most used to assess visuomotor integration and the tasks of handling objects with pinch-like movements are the most used to assess fine motor coordination. Given the importance of mathematical performance in future school results, identifying early children with difficulties in fine motor skills will help educators to design better strategies for teaching mathematical skills. In this sense, the need to identify instruments to assess fine motor skills in preschool children with characteristics that facilitate their administration by the educator in the classroom context, i.e., requiring little administration time, not requiring much experience or training, the possibility of being administered to the group/class, few material resources, and the results can be easily interpreted, classified, and associated with mathematical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vision provides a key sensory input for the performance of fine motor skills, which are fundamentally important to daily life activities, as well as skilled occupational and recreational performance. Binocular visual function is a crucial aspect of vision that requires the ability to combine inputs from both eyes into a unified percept. Summation and fusion are two aspects of binocular processing associated with performance advantages, including more efficient visuomotor control of upper limb movements. This paper uses the multiple processes model of limb control to explore how binocular viewing could facilitate the planning and execution of prehension movements in adults and typically developing children. Insight into the contribution of binocularity to visuomotor control also comes from examining motor performance in individuals with amblyopia, a condition characterized by reduced visual acuity and poor binocular function. Overall, research in this field has advanced our understanding of the role of binocular vision in the development and performance of visuomotor skills, the first step towards developing assessment tools and targeted rehabilitation for children with neurodevelopment disorders at risk of poor visuomotor outcomes. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'New approaches to 3D vision'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Altitude travel is increasingly popular also for middle-aged and older tourists and professionals. Due to the sensitivity of the central nervous system to hypoxia, altitude exposure may impair visuomotor performance although this has not been extensively studied. Therefore, we investigated whether a sojourn at moderately high altitude is associated with visuomotor performance impairments in healthy adults, 40y of age or older, and whether this adverse altitude-effect can be prevented by acetazolamide, a drug used to prevent acute mountain sickness. Methods: In this randomized placebo-controlled parallel-design trial, 59 healthy lowlanders, aged 40-75y, were assigned to acetazolamide (375 mg/day, n = 34) or placebo (n = 25), administered one day before ascent and while staying at high altitude (3100m). Visuomotor performance was assessed at 760m and 3100m after arrival and in the next morning (post-sleep) by a computer-assisted test (Motor-Task-Manager). It quantified deviation of a participant-controlled cursor affected by rotation during target tracking. Primary outcome was the directional error during post-sleep recall of adaptation to rotation estimated by multilevel linear regression modeling. Additionally, adaptation, immediate recall, and correct test execution were evaluated. Results: Compared to 760m, assessments at 3100m with placebo revealed a mean (95%CI) increase in directional error during adaptation and immediate recall by 1.9° (0.2 to 3.5, p = 0.024) and 1.1° (0.4 to 1.8, p = 0.002), respectively. Post-sleep recall remained unchanged (p = NS), however post-sleep correct test execution was 14% less likely (9 to 19, p<0.001). Acetazolamide improved directional error during post-sleep recall by 5.6° (2.6 to 8.6, p<0.001) and post-sleep probability of correct test execution by 36% (30 to 42, p<0.001) compared to placebo. Conclusion: In healthy individuals, 40y of age or older, altitude exposure impaired adaptation to and immediate recall and correct execution of a visuomotor task. Preventive acetazolamide treatment improved visuomotor performance after one night at altitude and increased the probability of correct test execution compared to placebo. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03536520. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We saccade 3 to 5 times per second when reading. However, little is known about the neuronal mechanisms coordinating the oculomotor and visual system during such rapid processing. Here, we ask if brain oscillations play a role in the temporal coordination of the visuomotor integration. We simultaneously acquired MEG and eye-tracking data while participants read sentences silently. Every sentence was embedded with a target word of either high or low lexical frequency. Our key finding demonstrated that saccade onsets were locked to the phase of alpha oscillations (8 to 13 Hz), and in particular, for saccades towards low frequency words. Source modelling demonstrated that the alpha oscillations to which the saccades were locked, were generated in the right-visual motor cortex (BA 7). Our findings suggest that the alpha oscillations serve to time the processing between the oculomotor and visual systems during natural reading, and that this coordination becomes more pronounced for demanding words. We saccade three to five times per second when reading, but little is known about the neuronal mechanisms that coordinate the oculomotor and visual system. This study shows that alpha oscillations serve to time the processing between saccades and the visual system during natural reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How are visuomotor mismatch responses in primary visual cortex embedded into cortical processing? We here show that mismatch responses can be understood as the result of a cooperation of motor and visual areas to jointly explain optic flow. This cooperation requires that optic flow is not explained redundantly by both areas, meaning that optic flow inputs to V1 that are predictable from motor neurons should be canceled (i.e., explained away). As a result, neurons in V1 represent only external causes of optic flow, which could allow the animal to easily detect movements that are independent of its own locomotion. We implement the proposed model in a spiking neural network, where coding errors are computed in dendrites and synaptic weights are learned with voltage-dependent plasticity rules. We find that both positive and negative mismatch responses arise, providing an alternative to the prevailing idea that visuomotor mismatch responses are linked to dedicated neurons for error computation. These results also provide a new perspective on several other recent observations of cross-modal neural interactions in cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The ability of the visual system to coordinate the information acquired from the eyes to control, and guide the hands in completing a task is known as hand-eye coordination. The typical hand-eye coordination involves the synergistic function of numerous sensorimotor systems, including the visual system, vestibular system, and proprioception, as well as the head, eye, and arm control systems. Aim: To investigate which gender is superior and efficient in learning hand-eye coordination using the mirror drawing task. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Mangalore, Karnataka, India from April 2020 to April 2021 involving a total of 90 young adults divided into two groups of 45 males (group A) and 45 females (group B). A mirror drawing task was given to each student with four trials and two minutes rest in between the trials. Subjects were expected to trace a shape, most typically a polygon while only seeing the upturned reflection of their hand in a mirror and staying within the confines of a double boundary using a mirror drawing test. The number of errors, time taken to complete the task, and efficiency index of each student was calculated manually using the efficiency index formula and compared between the two groups. Results: Total 90 participants were included with a mean age of 21.2 and 21.8 years for group A and group B, respectively. Group A (males) showed a greater efficiency index (5.52±2.29) when compared to group B (females) (4.61±1.77) (p-value-0.039). The Spearman’s ratio of mean error and mean time was 0.575 in males and 0.483 in females. Conclusion: The males outperformed in efficiency index when compared to females in hand-eye coordination with repeated practice. The study concluded that males were having greater efficiency index and less number of errors and less time taken compared to females.

The quiet-eye (QE) phenomenon has been found to predict subsequent motor performance. However, it remains unclear whether this effect also holds for considerably extended QE durations. Therefore, in 2 ball-throwing studies, QE durations of 400-3,200 ms were experimentally induced. Inferior performance was found in short QE-duration conditions; however, there was no difference between the long QE-duration conditions. Extrapolations beyond the observed QE values showed performance gains up to 2,000 ms and a shallow interval of optimality at a QE duration of about 3,000 ms. These results, together with the fact that the intended absolute QE durations were not achieved, point toward an inhibition explanation of the QE. Thus, the initial performance gain is interpreted as shielding of the movement parameterization against suboptimal alternatives, whereas the performance loss due to very long QE durations is ascribed to mutually balancing the processes of shielding and environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gait asymmetry is a common symptom in groups with neurological disorders and significantly reduces gait efficiency. To develop efficient training for gait rehabilitation, we propose a novel gait rehabilitation paradigm that combines two distinct perturbation strategies: visual feedback distortion (VFD) and split-belt treadmill (SBT) walking. In SBT walking, spatiotemporal gait adaptation can be readily achieved, but it quickly fades after training. Gait adaptation to implicit VFD in an unconscious manner tends to persist longer, potentially due to a greater engagement of implicit learning during training. Thus, we investigated whether the combined strategies would lead to more effective changes in symmetric gait patterns with longer retention periods. We compared the retention of the preserved asymmetric pattern acquired by "implicit VFD+SBT walking" with "SBT-only walking" and with "SBT walking with conscious correction". In the implicit VFD+SBT walking, the speed of the two belts was gradually changed, the visual representation of gait symmetry was implicitly distorted, and no instructions were given to subjects except to watch the visual feedback. In the SBT walking with conscious correction, subjects were instructed to consciously correct their steps with the help of visual feedback while SBT walking. The SBT-only walking consisted of SBT walking with no visual feedback. After the 7-minute adaptation period, we removed the visual feedback and the split-belt perturbations, and we assessed the retention of the preserved asymmetric pattern while subjects continued walking for the 15-minute post-adaptation period. In a group of subjects who spontaneously showed visuomotor adaptation in response to the implicit VFD (16 out of 27 subjects), we found a greater retention rate during the implicit VFD+SBT walking trial than the SBT-only walking or the SBT walking with conscious correction trials. The implicit visual distortion paradigm delivered in an attention-independent (unconscious) manner can be utilized and integrated into SBT walking to improve the efficacy of symmetric gait adaptation by producing longer-lasting effects on the retention of a newly learned motor pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neural circuits connecting the cerebellum with the cerebral cortex are important for both motor and cognitive functions. Therefore, assessment of cerebellar function is clinically important for patients with various motor and cognitive dysfunctions. Cerebellum-dependent motor learning has been studied using various tasks. The most widely used tasks are visuomotor adaptation tasks, in which subjects are required to make movements in two dimensions. Studies using simpler tasks of one-dimensional movement, which are easier for patients with motor problems to perform, have suggested that anticipatory responses in these tasks are useful to evaluate cerebellum-dependent motor control or motor learning. In this study, we examined whether the motor learning process can be evaluated in a simple loading task. Using space interface device for artificial reality (SPIDAR), a constant downward force was loaded to subjects' hands in a predictable condition, and the vertical movement of the hand was recorded. The hand deflection from the initial position was displayed on a screen for visual feedback information. We examined effects of repeated loading task training (90 times) on hand movements, by analyzing a small upward movement just before loading (anticipatory response) and a large downward movement after loading in each trial. We found that the repeated training lowered the time constant of upward movement and reduced the amplitude and time-to-peak of downward movement. These training effects were maintained into the next day. Furthermore, we found that loading task training with eyes closed was also effective, which indicates that proprioceptive information is enough for improvement of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]