12
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to master two different typing keyboard layouts?
Observational points:
It would be straightforward to point to a person who has mastered more than one keyboard layout (e.g., some of the people here). So, yes, it is possible. From my own personal ...
- 30.3k
6
votes
Can humans keep track of two unrelated rhythms?
I never thought that my Bachelor Thesis would ever come in handy. Thank you for this question!
Short answer
No, you cannot keep up two unrelated rhythms in a stable coordinated fashion when tapping ...
- 3,132
6
votes
Accepted
How is averaging used in calculating the Bereitschaftspotential?
Generally, EEG potentials are primarily averaged over trials, not electrodes. Averaging over electrodes is often done in addition to trial averaging, but this by itself does not make the potentials ...
- 2,414
5
votes
Can you practice and improve physical activities only by thinking?
Yes. In one famous experiment,a college basketball team was divided into three groups.
Group 1 was supposed to show up to practice shooting baskets for a week on a daily basis.
Group 2 was asked to "...
- 564
5
votes
Accepted
What regulates the strength of motor signals?
Short answer
Muscles are controlled by motor neurons in the spinal cord. The number of motor neurons that fire, as well as their individual firing rates govern the control of muscle force.
Background
...
- 19.6k
5
votes
Is there a term in psychology for when a tool is perceived as an extension of your body?
Short answer
Possible interesting terms are:
distal attribution (externalization)
body transfer illusion (rubber hand illusion)
embodiment
Background
This is a very interesting, yet difficult ...
- 19.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Do subjects with a missing cerebellum have a superior ability to verbalize motion sequences?
I think that this question is hard to answer because there is little known about the cerebellum, and few instances of people who have been born without one. There are only 10 known cases of complete ...
- 3,662
4
votes
Accepted
Effect of variability due during motor skill training
According to "Motor Skills Are Strengthened through Reconsolidation" (available through SciHub) adding variability to practice sessions increases learning speed. In the paper, patients were directed ...
- 8,783
4
votes
How do the motor system and Central Pattern Generators interact?
Descending inputs onto the central pattern generating circuit provide stimulus in the form of neuromodulatory chemicals and synaptic currents (Marder 2012). The leech heartbeat pacemaker and the ...
- 61
4
votes
Accepted
How are movements stored in the brain?
Forgive me for not including any scientific references (I've been out of the human movement science for a while), but it is believed that movements are saved and executed in a "goal-directed" way. It ...
- 3,132
4
votes
Accepted
Handwriting analysis by profession (muscular control) - Athletes, musicians, etc
Short answer: Not really, because a) handwriting style is generally individual-dependent and not occupation-dependent, and b) the fine-motor skills responsible for handwriting legibility are specific ...
- 3,662
4
votes
Accepted
Can you practice and improve physical activities only by thinking?
My general understanding is that thinking about executing the motor tasks in your mind can improve skill. It's not as good as actually practicing the task. I'm not sure exactly how conclusive the ...
- 30.3k
3
votes
Resources for learning how best to learn fine motor skills
I think the search term you're looking for is 'skill acquisition', but it's a super broad area. There's relevant stuff in memory, second language acquisition, sports science, and teaching surgeons ...
- 1,339
3
votes
How to specify the quickest movement a human can do based on MTM standards?
I don't know about any MTM standards or benchmarks, but motor response latencies have been assessed in many studies. Importantly, auditory response latencies are smallest, then tactile followed by ...
- 19.6k
3
votes
Accepted
Scientific way to prove you are ambidextrous, right handed or left handed?
I don't know whether the following has been used to distinguish natural from "corrected" right handers, but following up on the suggestion from @user3169, the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory contains a ...
- 196
3
votes
Can you learn a skill by observing someone else?
Watching others perform a skill serves as both instruction and visualization practice. The instruction can provide the beginner with a wealth of information that they lack, when starting a skill. It ...
- 512
3
votes
Accepted
What is the effect of listening to music on walking?
Research suggests that endurance is improved when movements are synchronized with a musical beat. [1] This research also supports the idea that music has 'motivational' qualities that may enhance ...
- 3,662
3
votes
Accepted
Does distraction cause us to skip to the next step in a motor plan?
Q: Does distraction cause us to skip to the next step in a motor plan?
A: It depends on the processes in progress, characteristics of the subject and characteristics of the signal to produce ...
- 1,029
3
votes
Is it possible to master two different typing keyboard layouts?
The answer is yes, you can only use one at a time though since there is a transition time for your brain to recognize and switch between layouts internally.
I know this because I use two different ...
- 509
2
votes
Trying to understand equations in Karl Friston article
As mentioned in the definitions section on page 2 of the paper, $D(q||p) = <ln(q/p)>_q$ is the Kullback-Leibler divergence or cross-entropy between two densities.
The reason for the negative ...
- 1,835
2
votes
Accepted
What models/mechanisms exist for the brain to chain movements together?
In the paper "Control of automated behavior: insights from the discrete sequence production task" a task similar to piano playing is discussed. The task, shown in the figure below, involves a user ...
- 8,783
2
votes
"Raise your game" studies
According to Tenenbaum et al. (1995) the effect may be opposite. In their study, they had people, who where normally not engaged in a training program for strength, tested on their knee-extensor ...
- 3,132
2
votes
Recording motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in response to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)?
Compared to TMS which is usually brief and high-intensity, tDCS stimulation protocols are fairly weak and long-duration. This protocol doesn't elicit MEPs by itself, because you need a stronger ...
- 5,619
2
votes
Accepted
How exactly do "you" think and interact with your body?
You have asked an excellent question. However, this innocently short question involves many dimensions: the philosophical discussion of consciousness, the neurobiological basis of motor movements, ...
- 1,154
1
vote
Accepted
How does modulation of the activity of an afferent neuron lead to increase in MEP's?
The passage you reference is talking about connections within the motor cortex in the brain. Afferent/efferent can be confusing terminology in the brain.
In the periphery, the terms have clear ...
- 5,619
1
vote
Accepted
Latency between actual neurons firing and muscles response in open and close fist experiment
Short answer
Reported motor delays between brain activity and motor response are in the order of 6 - 9 ms.
Background
I found a study where the authors used deep brain stimulation electrodes ...
- 19.6k
1
vote
Where is motor skill function located within the brain?
Most brain-machine interfaces involving movement would be based on activity in primary motor cortex, which, as you said, is near the surface. Right next to that are is primary somatosensory cortex, ...
- 981
1
vote
Able to type promptly, but doubt validity when spelling it out?
I'm not sure I know a name for the phenomenon, but the general idea is that for patterns of info you retrieve consistently in certain ways (e.g., typing into a standard phone key pad), you have formed ...
- 96
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