Sensorimotor Learning: Neurocognitive Mechanisms and Individual Differences.
R D Seidler, R G Carson
PMID 28705227WHAT IT FOUND
Sensorimotor adaptation begins with cognitive effort, including working memory and explicit aiming, then becomes more procedural.
Conscious verbalization can disrupt a well-learned movement.
Key findings
01Early sensorimotor adaptation depends on cognitive resources, including spatial working memory and explicit aiming strategies.
02Once a movement is well learned, conscious verbalization or performance monitoring can impair it.
03Prism adaptation can ameliorate neglect symptoms, and split-belt treadmill aftereffects can improve walking symmetry in stroke patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
It is a narrative review, not an original trial, so it cannot establish that any sensorimotor adaptation method improves patient outcomes. Most of the reviewed work is laboratory visuomotor adaptation, with few force-field or skill-learning examples, so it may not map directly to clinic tasks. Genetic findings are inconsistent and often underpowered, so they should not be used to predict individual learning capacity or therapy response. The clinical examples are brief and do not provide protocols, dosing, or patient selection criteria.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat this review as proof that a sensorimotor training protocol improves patient outcomes. It summarizes other studies, and the genetic claims are underpowered and inconsistent.