Coherent waves of myelin plasticity during motor-skill learning

Azzaritto, M.; Ziegler, G.; Huber, E.; Grabher, P.; Callaghan, M.; Thompson, A.; Friston, K.; Weiskopf, N.; Killeen, T.; Freund, P.

doi:10.1101/2021.04.13.439402

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.04.13.439402

Coherent waves of myelin plasticity during motor-skill learning

Azzaritto, M.·Ziegler, G.·Huber, E.·Grabher, P.·Callaghan, M.·Thompson, A.·Friston, K.·Weiskopf, N.·Killeen, T.·Freund, P.

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Abstract

Motor skill learning relies on neural plasticity in the motor and limbic systems. However, the spatial and temporal dependencies of these changes--and their microstructural underpinnings--remain unclear. Eighteen healthy males received training in a computer-controlled motion game 4 times a week, for 4 weeks. Performance improvements were observed in all trained participants. Serial myelin-sensitive multiparametric mapping at 3T during this period of intensive motor skill acquisition revealed temporally and spatially distributed, performance-related myelin-sensitive microstructural changes in the grey and white matter across the corticospinal system and hippocampus. Interestingly, analysis of the trajectory of these transient changes revealed a time-shifted choreography across white and grey matter of the corticospinal system as well as with changes in the hippocampus. Crucially, in the cranial corticospinal tracts, myelin-sensitive changes during training in the posterior part of the limb of the internal capsule were of greater magnitude in lower-limb trainees compared to upper limb trainees. Motor skill learning is depended on coherent waves of plasticity within a corticospinal-hippocampal loop.

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Azzaritto, M., Ziegler, G., Huber, E., Grabher, P., Callaghan, M., Thompson, A., Friston, K., Weiskopf, N., Killeen, T., Freund, P.. 2021-04-14. Coherent waves of myelin plasticity during motor-skill learning. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.13.439402

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