Abstract
An influential idea in human motor learning is that there is a consolidation
period during which motor memories are transformed from
a fragile to a permanent state, no longer susceptible to interference
from new learning. The evidence supporting this idea comes from
studies showing that the motor memory of a task (A) is lost when an
opposing task (B) is experienced soon after, but not if sufficient
time
is allowed to pass (6 hr).Wereport results from three laboratories
challenging this consolidation idea.Weused anABAparadigm in the
context of a reaching task to assess the influence of experiencing
B after A on the retention of A. In two experiments using visuomotor
rotations, we found that B fully interferes with the retention of
A even when B is experienced 24 hr after A. Contrary to previous
reports,
in four experiments on learning force fields, we also observed full
interference between A and B when they are separated by 24 hr or
even
1 week. This latter result holds for both position-dependent and velocity-dependent
force fields. For both the visuomotor and force-field
tasks, complete interference is still observed when the possible affects
of anterograde interference are controlled through the use of
washout trials. Our results fail to support the idea that motor memories
become consolidated into a protected state. Rather, they are
consistent with recent ideas of memory formation, which propose that
memories can shift between active and inactive states.
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