TY - JOUR
T1 - Benefit of interleaved practice of motor skills is associated with changes in functional brain network topology that differ between younger and older adults
AU - Lin, Chien Ho Janice
AU - Knowlton, Barbara J.
AU - Wu, Allan D.
AU - Iacoboni, Marco
AU - Yang, Ho Ching
AU - Ye, Yu Ling
AU - Liu, Kuan Hong
AU - Chiang, Ming Chang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Practicing tasks arranged in an interleaved manner generally leads to superior retention compared with practicing tasks repetitively, a phenomenon known as the contextual interference (CI) effect. We investigated the brain network of motor learning under CI, that is, the CI network, and how it was affected by aging. Sixteen younger and 16 older adults practiced motor sequences arranged in a repetitive or an interleaved order over 2 days, followed by a retention test on day 5 to evaluate learning. Network analysis was applied to functional MRI data on retention to define the CI network by identifying brain regions with greater between-region connectivity after interleaved compared with repetitive practice. CI effects were present in both groups but stronger in younger adults. Moreover, CI networks in younger adults exhibited efficient small-world topology, with a significant association between higher network centrality and better learning after interleaved practice. Older adults did not show such favorable network properties. Our findings suggest that aging affects the efficiency of brain networks underlying enhanced motor learning after CI practice.
AB - Practicing tasks arranged in an interleaved manner generally leads to superior retention compared with practicing tasks repetitively, a phenomenon known as the contextual interference (CI) effect. We investigated the brain network of motor learning under CI, that is, the CI network, and how it was affected by aging. Sixteen younger and 16 older adults practiced motor sequences arranged in a repetitive or an interleaved order over 2 days, followed by a retention test on day 5 to evaluate learning. Network analysis was applied to functional MRI data on retention to define the CI network by identifying brain regions with greater between-region connectivity after interleaved compared with repetitive practice. CI effects were present in both groups but stronger in younger adults. Moreover, CI networks in younger adults exhibited efficient small-world topology, with a significant association between higher network centrality and better learning after interleaved practice. Older adults did not show such favorable network properties. Our findings suggest that aging affects the efficiency of brain networks underlying enhanced motor learning after CI practice.
KW - Contextual interference
KW - Functional connectivity
KW - Functional magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Psychophysiological interaction
KW - Serial reaction time task
KW - Small-world networks
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84963604371&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.03.010
DO - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.03.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 27143435
AN - SCOPUS:84963604371
SN - 0197-4580
VL - 42
SP - 189
EP - 198
JO - Neurobiology of Aging
JF - Neurobiology of Aging
ER -