About this Research Topic
Motor skills underlie most interactions of species with their environment. From humans playing musical instruments to birds producing songs and the skillful grooming of non-human primates, all result from previously performed movements that have been executed and refined over time. Each skill comprises novel actions organized efficiently and can be repeatedly performed to achieve a singular goal. Reinforcement feedback is commonly used to enhance motor learning behaviors. Altering feedback valence, task demands, and application to pathological conditions has yielded fascinating findings that have increased our understanding of how the motor and reinforcement learning systems are intertwined. Notably, areas beyond the traditionally associated motor regions (i.e., M1 and the cerebellum), such as the anterior cingulate cortex and posterior parietal cortex, are modulated by reinforcement-based motor learning paradigms in humans. Additionally, in-vivo electrophysiology experiments provide detailed insights into how areas related to motor functions are highly responsive to reinforcement feedback.
To date, a wide array of techniques, paradigms, and methodologies have been employed to explore the behavioral and neural changes associated with motor learning and memory through reinforcement feedback. However, there is still a lack of consensus regarding how reinforcement induces changes in both behavior and neural processes during the motor learning process. As a result, there are outstanding questions about the behavioral and neural changes that ensue from reinforcement feedback during motor learning, as well as their broader implications for rehabilitation and the development of innovative therapeutic approaches.
This Research Topic is therefore aimed at collecting scientific contributions related to the investigation of "reinforcement feedback during motor learning." We enthusiastically welcome manuscripts of various types, including original research articles, brief research reports, reviews, mini-reviews, methods, and protocol articles, covering a wide range of themes, including but not restricted to the following:
• Multimodal approaches exploring motor behavior and neural activity during reinforcement-based skill learning and memory in humans and animals.
• Computational models of behavior and neuronal dynamics of reinforcement-based motor learning.
• Neurochemical basis of reinforcement-based skill learning across species, tasks, and feedback valences.
• Clinical and translational applications of reinforcement in the development of novel movement therapies.
• Implicit and explicit contributions to reinforcement-based motor learning.
• Age and disease-related alterations to skill learning with reinforcement.
• Research data obtained from functional imaging methods or combined approaches based on functional imaging/behavioral studies
To date, a wide array of techniques, paradigms, and methodologies have been employed to explore the behavioral and neural changes associated with motor learning and memory through reinforcement feedback. However, there is still a lack of consensus regarding how reinforcement induces changes in both behavior and neural processes during the motor learning process. As a result, there are outstanding questions about the behavioral and neural changes that ensue from reinforcement feedback during motor learning, as well as their broader implications for rehabilitation and the development of innovative therapeutic approaches.
This Research Topic is therefore aimed at collecting scientific contributions related to the investigation of "reinforcement feedback during motor learning." We enthusiastically welcome manuscripts of various types, including original research articles, brief research reports, reviews, mini-reviews, methods, and protocol articles, covering a wide range of themes, including but not restricted to the following:
• Multimodal approaches exploring motor behavior and neural activity during reinforcement-based skill learning and memory in humans and animals.
• Computational models of behavior and neuronal dynamics of reinforcement-based motor learning.
• Neurochemical basis of reinforcement-based skill learning across species, tasks, and feedback valences.
• Clinical and translational applications of reinforcement in the development of novel movement therapies.
• Implicit and explicit contributions to reinforcement-based motor learning.
• Age and disease-related alterations to skill learning with reinforcement.
• Research data obtained from functional imaging methods or combined approaches based on functional imaging/behavioral studies
Keywords: electrophysiology, motor behavior, reinforcement-based skill learning, reinforcement-based motor learning, M1, cerebellum, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex, motor functions, fMRI, sensori-motor learning
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
