Motor learning is the process of improving the smoothness and accuracy of movements. It is obviously necessary for complicated movements such as playing the piano and climbing trees, but it is also important for calibrating simple movements like reflexes, as parameters of the body and environment change over time. The cerebellum and basal ganglia are critical for motor learning. Figure 1a: A human brain, with the cerebellum in purple. ... Coronal slices of human brain showing the basal ganglia, globus pallidus (GPe), subthalamic nucleus (STN) and basal ganglia output nuclei (GPi and SNr). ...

As a result of the universal need for properly calibrated movement, it is not surprising that the cerebellum and basal ganglia are widely conserved across vertebrates from fish to humans. Typical classes Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Placodermi - extinct Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii - extinct Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Amphibia (amphibians) Reptilia (reptiles) Aves (birds) Mammalia (mammals) Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordates, specifically, those with backbones or spinal columns. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded)* water-dwelling... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ...

Although motor learning is capable of achieving Olympic feats of skill, much has been learned from studies of simple behaviors. These behaviors include eyeblink conditioning, motor learning in the vestibulo-ocular reflex, and birdsong. Research on Aplysia californica, a sea slug, has yielded detailed knowledge of the cellular mechanisms of a simple form of learning. Eyeblink conditioning is a form of classical conditioning in which animals are trained to blink in response to a tone. ... Figure 3 Three-neuron arc, during a head movement to the right. ... Bird song refers to the sounds, usually melodious to the human ear, made by many birds of the order Passeriformes as a form of communication. ... Binomial name Aplysia californica Cooper, 1863 The California sea slug (Aplysia californica), also called the California sea hare, is a species of sea hare which belongs to the class Gastropoda in the phylum Mollusca. ...

Interesting type of motor learning occurs during operation of brain-computer interface. For example, Mikhail Lebedev, Miguel Nicolelis and their colleagues recently demonstrated cortical plasticity that resulted in incorporation of an external actuator controlled through a brain-machine interface into the subject's neural representation. A brain-computer interface (BCI) or direct neural interface is literally a direct technological interface between a brain and a computer not requiring any motor output from the user. ... Mikhail A. Lebedev (Михаил Альбертович Лебедев) is a Russian-born (1963) Neuroscientist known for his neurophysiological studies of cerebral cortex. ... Miguel Nicolelis, MD, PhD, is a Brazilian scientist best known for his pioneering work in reading monkey thought. He implanted electrode arrays into the monkey brain that were able to detect monkeys motor intent and thus able to control reaching and grasping movements performed by a robotic arm. ... Brain plasticity refers to the changes that occur in the organisation of the brain, and in particular changes that occur to the location of specific information processing functions, as a result of the effect of experience. ... A brain-computer interface (BCI) or direct neural interface is literally a direct technological interface between a brain and a computer not requiring any motor output from the user. ...

See also

• Motor skill
• Procedural memory
• Brain-computer interface

A motor skill is a skill required for proper usage of skeletal muscles. ... Procedural memory, also known as implicit memory, is the long-term memory of skills and procedures, or how to knowledge. ... A brain-computer interface (BCI) or direct neural interface is literally a direct technological interface between a brain and a computer not requiring any motor output from the user. ...

References

• Shadmehr, R. and Wise, S.P. (2005) The Computational Neurobiology of Reaching and Pointing: A Foundation for Motor Learning, MIT Press xviii + 575 pp.
• Lebedev, M.A., Carmena, J.M., O’Doherty, J.E., Zacksenhouse, M., Henriquez, C.S., Principe, J.C., Nicolelis, M.A.L. (2005) Cortical ensemble adaptation to represent actuators controlled by a brain machine interface. J. Neurosci. 25: 4681-4693.