PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Guy Avraham
AU  - Jordan A. Taylor
AU  - Assaf Breska
AU  - Richard B. Ivry
AU  - Samuel D. McDougle
TI  - Contextual effects in motor adaptation adhere to associative learning rules
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.14.297143
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.14.297143
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/30/2020.09.14.297143.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/30/2020.09.14.297143.full
AB  - Two influential paradigms, eyeblink conditioning and motor adaptation, have deepened our understanding of the theoretical and neural foundations of sensorimotor learning. Although both forms of error-based learning are dependent on the cerebellum, the two literatures typically operate within distinct theoretical frameworks. For eyeblink conditioning, the focus is on the formation of associations between an error signal and arbitrary stimuli. For adaptation, the error signal is used to modulate an internal model of a sensorimotor map for motor planning. Here we take a step towards an integrative account of these two forms of learning, examining the relevance of core concepts from associative learning for motor adaptation. Using a task that drives implicit adaptation of reaching movements, we paired movement-related feedback with neutral auditory or visual cues that served as conditioning stimuli (CSs). Trial-by trial changes in feedforward movement kinematics exhibited two key signatures of associative learning: Differential conditioning and compound conditioning. Moreover, after compound conditioning, a robust negative correlation was observed between responses to the two elemental CSs of the compound (i.e., overshadowing), consistent with the additivity principle posited by models of associative learning. Computational modeling demonstrated that these results could not be captured by conventional, context-insensitive algorithms used to describe motor adaptation. Associative learning effects in motor adaptation provide a proof-of-concept for linking cerebellar-dependent learning paradigms within a common theoretical framework.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Motor adaptation is a cerebellar-dependent process, describing how the motor system remains calibrated in response to environmental and bodily changes. Another cerebellar-dependent learning phenomenon, eyeblink conditioning, is viewed as an associative learning process. Here we sought to bringing together these two approaches for studying sensorimotor learning. We demonstrate that core associative learning phenomena are manifest during motor adaptation, pointing to a common framework for these distinct cerebellar-dependent motor learning processes.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.