Abstract Aim: This systematic review aimed to investigate the acute effects of cardiovascular exercise on motor learning of non-disabled individuals. Methods: Forty studies were identified through database searching (PsycINFO, CENTRAL, Google Scholar, Scielo, and PUBMED). The studies demonstrated heterogeneity and were classified into two categories to guide the analyses: (1) – studies that investigated the effects of exercise-induced fatigue during practice on the performance in the retention test; (2) – studies that verified the acute impact of the cardiovascular exercise in close temporal proximity to the task practice on motor learning. Results: The studies demonstrated that (1) - the practice under fatigue conditions did not impair motor learning and that (2) – the cardiovascular exercise bout performed in close temporal proximity to task practice enhances the motor learning processes. Conclusion: Cardiovascular exercise enhances motor learning processes; however, these priming effects are dependents on the timing between practice and exercise, type of exercise, and task characteristics.

Abstract Aim: The influence of sleep on the adaptability and relearning rate during learning of complex motor skills is still unknown, limiting the comprehension of the sleep role in motor memory consolidation. Thus, we aimed to investigate the nocturnal sleep influence on retention, adaptability, and relearning rate of the dart-throwing task. Methods: Sixty healthy adults were divided into two groups: SLEEP and WAKE. Both groups practiced an under-arm dart-throwing task. However, WAKE practiced in the morning and performed a retention phase in the evening, and SLEEP practiced in the evening and performed a retention phase in the morning of the next day. The practice and retention phases were separated by 12 h in both groups. There were analyses regarding retention (retention test), adaptability (delayed transfer test), and relearning rate (savings). Results: Both groups improved their performance across the acquisition phase and maintained it in the retention test. The groups did not demonstrate adaptability and did not demonstrate a significant difference in relearning rate. Conclusion: We conclude that nocturnal sleep did not modulate the consolidation of motor memories related to ballistic discrete motor skills.

Abstract Aim: This study investigated whether the difference anthropometric of swimmers pre- and post-menarche influence the motor performance of a 100-m freestyle swimming test. Methods: Twenty-five female swimmers participated in this study, nine swimmers have not had menarche (age 11.7 ± 0.63), and sixteen swimmers already have had it (age 15.17 ± 1.36). Body composition (skinfold thickness), anthropometrical parameters (height and weight), and biological age (Tanner self-assessment) were measured. A univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis was run to assess which personal or anthropometric variable predicts the motor performance (time trial) on a 100-m freestyle swimming test in pre- and post-menarche participants. As well, it was performed a Pearson’s correlation test between the maturational status on Tanner self-assessment and the motor performance. Results: Post-menarche swimmers demonstrated better motor performance than pre-menarche swimmers. Anthropometric characteristics did not predict the motor performance of pre-menarche swimmers. Age, height, and weight predicted 47.8% of the motor performance of post-menarche swimmers. The Tanner classification demonstrated a strong negative correlation with swimming performance. Conclusion: Anthropometric characteristics only impacted the motor performance of post-menarche swimmers.

Abstract Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on the learning of a sports motor skill. Methods: Forty individuals were allocated to the Practice + Exercise Group (PEG) and for the Practice Group (PG). All participants practiced the underhand serve of the Volleyball; all of them were naïve regarding the motor task. The participants (age/ years: PEG: 21.7 ± 3.06, PG: 20.25 ± 1.95) performed a pre-test with five trials, an acquisition phase with fifteen blocks/ 5 trials each, a post-test with five trials, and a twenty-four hours retention test composted by five trials. The PEG was submitted to an aerobic exercise session immediately after the acquisition phase. It was provided by running around the sports court, for 20 minutes, with an intensity of 85% of the máx heart rate. The PG rest after the acquisition phase. The score and variable errors were the dependent variables. For the motor improvement during the practice, the Anova two way followed by Tukey posthoc test was run, for the retention test was used a T-test, an alpha of 5% was adopted. Results: All groups increased their score through the practice, with no significant difference between them. In the retention test, the PEG demonstrated better motor performance than PG; it may be related to improvements in the consolidation mechanisms induced by aerobic exercise. Conclusion: The aerobic exercise may be a neuromodulatory strategy to enhance the learning of complex motor skills.

Abstract Aim: This study aims to investigate the effects of the type of extrinsic feedback provided equally in terms of timing and frequency of delivery on the motor learning after stroke. Methods: Twenty post-stroke individuals were distributed randomly into two groups according to the type of feedback provided: knowledge of performance experimental group (KPEG) and knowledge of results experimental group (KREG). Additionally, a control group (CG) was consisted of 20 healthy individuals age- and feedback-matched with the experimental groups. The task was a pointing skill performed in a virtual reality system. The acquisition phase consisted of 3 days/ 75 trials per day. Two retention tests (ret1 and ret2) were run after four days from the acquisition phase. Dependent variable measures were defined by motor performance and movement pattern. Results: The statistical analysis showed interaction effect F(3,108 = 49.13, p = 0.01) among KPEG and KREG. Based on the motor performance parameters (score) the KPEG improved performance significantly from pre to post (p = 0.001), and maintain it from pre to ret1 (p = 0.002), and from the pre to ret2 (p = 0.001). However, the KREG only showed a difference in motor performance from the pre to post (p = 0.003). Compared to the KREG, the KPEG showed improvement on the movement pattern based on the smoothness (p = 0.004), which suggests that the KPEG performed more corrections of movements in relation to the CG and KREG groups. Conclusion: These findings suggest that KP allowed better motor learning in individuals after stroke.

Abstract AIMS The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of practice schedule on the motor learning of a synchronization timing task in post-stroke subjects. Subjects and METHODS Seventeen post-stroke individuals were assigned to the experimental group and for the control group were selected seventeen healthy individuals. At the acquisition phase, all participants performed 30 trials of a coincident timing task. Nine individuals from each group practiced constantly and eight from each group practiced randomly, with speed changes in the task. Subsequent phases included: 1) immediate transfer test and 2) long term transfer test after 3 days. Data were analyzed in relation to absolute, variable, and constant errors to assess the performance concerning accuracy, consistence, and direction of responses, respectively. RESULTS All groups increased their accuracy through the practice and were able to adapt it in different speeds. The stroke subjects were more variable in their motor responses. There was no effect of the practice schedule on motor learning, regardless the presence or absence of the neurologic damage. CONCLUSION Post stroke individuals were able to learn a synchronizing task and the capacity of adapt their performance after speed perturbation was preserved. There was no effect of the practice schedule on motor learning.

The virtual reality has been frequently required in rehabilitation settings. However, it still lacks specificity, making it necessary to establish specific criteria to classify the most relevant aspects of electronic games to allow interventions based on virtual reality. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a “Perceptual and motor demands assessment protocol for virtual reality systems” and to investigate its content validity and intra and inter observer agreement. The protocol was created through a literature review including classical studies as well as a review of recent articles about motor behavior, physical training, cognitive neuroscience and virtual reality. The previous versions were presented in study group meetings and congresses, and modified accordingly to suggestions of experts. Three examiners used the final version to analyze twice the total of 20 videos of individuals in a virtual environment and answered a questionnaire about its content validity. Most of the obtained values were classified as “good” (concordance from 80% to 89%) or “excellent” (concordance from 90% to 100%) by the three examiners and the protocol’s content validity was adequate. The protocol is valid, applicable and practical for analyzing different requirements of electronic games in a virtual environment.

With the present study, we aimed to investigate the task complexity effects on the performance of a coincidence timing task in individuals with Down syndrome. The experimental group was consisted by 26 subjects with Down syndrome, 20 years old (± 5), and classified as mild or moderate in International Classification of Functioning and Health. Each participant in the experimental group was matched by in function of gender and age with a participant in a control group without Down syndrome. Both groups performed a coincident timing task, in which the participant had different levels of structural and functional complexity. Performance measure was derived from the consistency (absolute error), accuracy (variable error) and direction of response (constant error). Individuals with Down syndrome presented spatiotemporal organization impairments related to the difficulty in dealing with motor demand in order to interact with the perceptive demand. They also experienced difficulty in adapt to task complexity, causing performance error in the task. Individuals with Down syndrome have deficits in perceptive and space-time organization, and this phenomenon may be explained by the difficulty in integrating perceptive stimulus to motor actions with a high number of elements involved.

O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar o processo de aprendizagem de uma tarefa de controle postural entre indivíduos pós-Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) e indivíduos saudáveis. Participaram do estudo 20 indivíduos pós- AVC (Grupo Experimental) e 20 indivíduos saudáveis pareados por idade (Grupo Controle). Os participantes praticaram uma tarefa de controle postural em ambiente virtual com incremento de complexidade. O delineamento foi constituído de quatro fases: pré-teste (cinco tentativas), fase de aquisição (quatro blocos de trinta minutos), pós-teste (cinco tentativas) e teste de retenção (cinco tentativas após uma semana sem prática). Para a análise estatística foi realizada uma ANOVA 2 x 3 (grupos x testes de aprendizagem). Resultados: Não houve diferença na aprendizagem motora entre os grupos (F= 41.22; p=0.88), o Grupo Controle conseguiu desempenhar a tarefa em níveis mais altos de complexidade que o Grupo Experimental (F = 4.77; p = 0.01), e ambos os grupos incrementaram o número de erros ao longo dos blocos de prática (F = 0.53; p = 0.00) por causa do aumento de complexidade. Conclusão: Pode-se verificar que indivíduos pós-AVC possuem a mesma capacidade de aprender uma tarefa de controle postural que indivíduos saudáveis, e que a complexidade aparenta ser um aspecto crucial para diferenciar o processo de aprendizagem motora destas diferentes populações.

The aim of this study was to compare the learning process of a postural control task between post-stroke patients and healthy subjects. The sample was composed of 20 post-stroke individuals (Experimental Group) and 20 aged matched healthy individuals (Control Group). Participants practiced a postural control task in a virtual environment with increasing of complexity. The study design involved four phases: pre-test (five trials), acquisition phase (four blocks of thirty minutes), post-test (five trials), and retention test (five trials after a week without practice). The statistical analysis was run by a 2 x 3 ANOVA (groups x learning tests). Results: There was no difference in motor learning between Experimental Group and Control Group (F= 41.22; p=0.88). In addition, it was founded that the Control Group could learn the task in a higher-level complexity than Experimental Group (F = 4.77; p = 0.01), and both groups increased the error during the trials of practice (F = 0.53; p = 0.00) because of task complexity. Conclusion: Therefore has been found that post-stroke individuals have the ability to learn a postural control task similar to healthy subjects, and the task complexity seems to be a key-factor in order to differentiate stroke from healthy subject's motor learning process.