Effects of visual feedback on corticostriatal activity during continuous de novo motor skill learning

Abstract

A corticostriatal network plays a pivotal role in visuomotor learning. However, it is unclear to what extent visual feedback for motor learning impacts corticostriatal activity. To address this, we conducted an fMRI experiment in which participants acquired a complex motor skill using either online or offline visual cursor feedback. We found a highly selective response in the entire striatum to visual performance feedback in both conditions and a relatively higher response in the caudate nucleus for the offline feedback. However, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) response was significant only for online feedback. Furthermore, we also found functional distinctions of the striatal subregions in random versus goal-directed motor control. These findings collectively underscore the substantial impact of such simple visual feedback, as designed in our study, in eliciting corticostriatal responses, thereby elucidating its significance in reinforcement-based motor learning.