Kistler, William;
(2025)
To Work Together: Examining the Time-Course of Multi-Effector Synergy in Motor Sequence Learning.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis investigates the development of motor synergies during the acquisition of complex manual motor skills, specifically sequential typing tasks. Motor synergies - defined here as coordinated movements across multiple digits - form the foundation of skilled performance. Combining behavioural annotation, markerless pose estimation tools that estimate 2-D finger positions from video, and remote data collection methods, three studies were conducted to examine the emergence, refinement, and transfer of these coordinated movements during practice and rest in sequential motor learning. Study 1 shows significant changes in motor synergies during early-stage practice. Over thirty-six trials, participants rapidly improved typing performance, with gains plateauing after early learning. Improvements coincided with rapid changes in movement strategies, suggesting early establishment of control structures. Study 2 shows that these patterns reorganise substantially during brief rest intervals rather than during active performance. This finding supports the idea that rest facilitates micro-offline consolidation of skill. Study 3 explores transfer of synergies from simple to complex tasks. Despite similarities in sensorimotor demands, coordination patterns from the simpler task did not transfer seamlessly to the complex one. Instead, participants formed new strategies to meet the demands of the five-element sequence. Collectively, these studies advance our understanding of how motor synergies emerge and adapt during learning. They underscore the importance of both practice and rest, and the task-specific nature of motor control, offering insights for personalised training and rehabilitation.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | To Work Together: Examining the Time-Course of Multi-Effector Synergy in Motor Sequence Learning |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210516 |
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