Study of Brain Motor Cortex Activity During New Motor Skill Learning Sessions in Healthy Adults Aged 18 to 35

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying how new motor skills are learned from scratch by examining changes in the brains motor system excitability during motor learning sessions. This research focuses on understanding the brain plasticity mechanisms involved in learning new movements, particularly exploring increased corticospinal excitability and motor cortex reorganization. The study aims to measure these changes across three separate motor learning sessions spaced over time. Participants will engage in three de novo motor learning sessions on days 1, 2, and 9. During these sessions, they will perform specific motor tasks designed to evaluate learning progress and brain excitability changes. The study uses single-pulse and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS to assess motor evoked potentials and intracortical inhibition and facilitation at various time points before and after each session. Throughout the study, participants will be assessed on motor evoked potential amplitude input-output curves and short-interval and long-interval intracortical inhibition as well as intracortical facilitation at baseline and immediately before and after each motor learning session. Motor learning performance will be measured using movement path length during a 3D finger-cursor task. The total involvement includes multiple assessments to track brain activity and motor skill acquisition over nine days.

Cortical Excitability During de Novo Motor Learning