Sensorimotor Control and Learning Lab members (SCiLL) drew significance from the ~25,000 attendees during their research presentations at the 2023 Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Annual Meeting. The meeting was held from November 11-15 in Washington, DC.
Kylee Graham's poster, titled " The relative contributions of short-latency afferent inhibition and short-interval intracortical inhibition during skilled motor behaviour", used novel paired-pulse non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to investigate how different groups of neurons in the motor cortex interact during skilled motor behaviours. Kylee's research identified that neurons that receive inputs from other cortical areas involved in motor planning are dominant early. In contrast, neurons that receive sensory inputs from the muscles are more dominant as the impending movement approaches and during the movement itself.
Jess Vander Vaart’s poster, titled " The influence of music listening on sensorimotor integration" used cutting-edge non-invasive brain stimulation technology to investigate how listening to music alters how the brain integrates sensory information into the motor commands sent to the muscles during behaviour. Jess identified that any sound, including white noise, changed how the motor cortex integrated sensory information relating to the body's state. In particular, the effect was strongest in neurons that monitor sensory feedback for errors during skilled behaviours.
Michael Perrier’s poster, titled “The effect of explicit instruction on sensorimotor integration during early skill learning: A short latency afferent inhibition study,” also used cutting-edge non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to identify how sensory-motor control is altered by explicit instruction. Michael’s work identified that providing explicit instruction about performing a task during early practice changes how sensory information is integrated into the motor commands that control behaviour. In particular, providing explicit information may interfere with subconscious motor control processes.
Kayla Walach-Gosse presented work from their Master’s thesis in a poster titled "Long-term effects of concussion on sensory gating, attention and motor learning". Kayla's work identified persistent adaptations in the ability of those with a concussion history to manage incoming information about body state. Individuals with a concussion history did not facilitate important sensory information as efficiently as individuals without a concussion history. This effect was quite strong when the individual was forced to manage incoming sensory information quickly, indicating that individuals with a concussion history can often, but not always, compensate for the persistent effects of their injury.