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How environmental context shapes motor memory| title | How environmental context shapes motor memory |
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| start_date | 2026/06/29 |
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| schedule | 15h15 |
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| online | no |
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| location_info | Room B10 |
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| summary | The actions available to us are strongly shaped by the environment. For example, the kitchen affords actions such as reaching for a cup, cutting food, or opening a drawer, whereas the living room affords a different repertoire of actions. Thus, action selection is inherently context-dependent. An important question, however, is whether environmental context only influences which action is selected, or whether it also helps the brain retrieve how to control that action. Here, I use the term “motor memory” to refer to the brain’s learned knowledge of how to execute an action appropriately in a given situation, such as how much force to produce or how to adjust the movement to the dynamics of the environment. This distinction is critical because knowing what to do and being able to execute it accurately depend on different processes. In this talk, using a classical force-field learning paradigm from motor control, I will present evidence that environmental context separates motor memories, rather than merely guiding action selection. Moreover, I will show that these motor memories are linked not simply to physical space, but to the relational spatial structure of the environment. Our findings suggest that the environment not only affords possible actions, but also serves as a contextual cue for retrieving the motor memories needed to perform them. If time allows, I will discuss how we are extending this work to non-human primate experiments. |
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| responsibles | Allen |
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Workflow history| from state (1) | to state | comment | date |
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| submitted | published | | 2026/06/26 07:24 UTC |
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