Both the acquisition of new and the modification of previously acquired motor skills are necessary to achieve optimal levels of motor performance in everyday functioning as well as to attain expert performance levels that are evident in sports and arts. A multitude of factors have been shown to influence the various stages of the learning process, from the acquisition (i.e., motor memory encoding) to the consolidation and subsequent retention of a skill. These factors, or modulators, can affect learning through online processes taking place during practice of a new motor skill or through offline processes occurring in the absence of task performance (i.e., after training sessions). Although much of the recent research from various disciplines has placed an increased emphasis on identifying factors that can influence the motor learning process, we lack an integrated understanding of online and offline determinants of motor skill behaviours. Potential motor learning modulators include, but are certainly not limited to, stress, anxiety, attention, executive functioning, social interaction, stimulus-response mapping, training schedule/regimen, learning environment, vigilance/consciousness states including sleep, wakefulness or meditation, brain stimulation, interference as well as resting state brain connectivity. Pathological and non-pathological (i.e., development or aging) changes in the brain can also be conceptualized as potential modulators. The aim of this Research Topic is to bridge research from the cognitive, sensory, motor and psychological domains using various behavioural paradigms and neuroimaging techniques in order to provide a comprehensive view of the online and offline modulators of motor learning, and how they interact to influence motor performance. Critically, the overarching goal is to gain a better understanding of how motor behaviour can be optimized. We believe that merging research from diverse neuroscientific communities would contribute to fulfilling this goal and potentially highlight possible shared neurophysiological mechanisms influencing motor learning.

Life Span Motor Development, Seventh Edition With HKPropel Access, is a leading text for helping students examine and understand how interactions of the developing and maturing individual, the environment, and the task being performed bring about changes in a person’s movements. This model of constraints approach, combined with an unprecedented collection of video clips marking motor development milestones, facilitates an unmatched learning experience for the study of motor development across the life span. The seventh edition expands the tradition of making the student’s experience with motor development an interactive one. Related online learning tools delivered through HKPropel include more than 190 video clips marking motor development milestones to sharpen observation techniques, with interactive questions and 47 lab activities to facilitate critical thinking and hands-on application. The lab activities may be assigned and tracked by instructors through HKPropel, along with chapter quizzes (assessments) that are automatically graded to test comprehension of critical concepts. The text also contains several updates to keep pace with the changing field: Content related to physcial growth and development of the skeletal, muscle, and adipose systems is reorganized chronologically for a more logical progression. New material on developmental motor learning demonstrates the overlap between the disciplines of motor development and motor learning. New insights into motor competence help explain the relationship between skill development and physical fitness. The text helps students understand how maturational age and chronological age are distinct and how functional constraints affect motor skill development and learning. It shows how the four components of physical fitness—cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, and body composition—interact to affect a person’s movements over the life span, and describes how relevant social, cultural, psychosocial, and cognitive influences can affect a person’s movements. This edition comes with 148 illustrations, 60 photos, and 25 tables—all in full color—to help explain concepts and to make the text more engaging for students. It also retains helpful learning aids including chapter objectives, a running glossary, key points, sidebars, and application questions throughout each chapter. Life Span Motor Development, Seventh Edition, embraces an interactive and practical approach to illustrate the most recent research in motor development. Students will come away with a firm understanding of the concepts and how they apply to real-world situations. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is not included with this ebook but may be purchased separately.

This single volume brings together both theoretical developments in the field of motor control and their translation into such fields as movement disorders, motor rehabilitation, robotics, prosthetics, brain-machine interface, and skill learning. Motor control has established itself as an area of scientific research characterized by a multi-disciplinary approach. Its goal is to promote cooperation and mutual understanding among researchers addressing different aspects of the complex phenomenon of motor coordination. Topics covered include recent theoretical advances from various fields, the neurophysiology of complex natural movements, the equilibrium-point hypothesis, motor learning of skilled behaviors, the effects of age, brain injury, or systemic disorders such as Parkinson's Disease, and brain-computer interfaces. The chapter ‘Encoding Temporal Features of Skilled Movements—What, Whether and How?’ is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.

This book is about spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), which is among the most challenging pathologies in the neurological landscape. It covers basic concepts, functional classification, and new approaches to medical and non-medical treatment including rehabilitation/palliative care approaches. The volume also describes a wide spectrum of generalities and particularities about various forms of clinical and genetic presentations of ACS that have life-threatening characteristics and long-standing presentation with tremendous variability in presentation and clinical severity. In addition, the book presents important aspects of cerebellar anatomy, nutrition impact, genetic subtypes, and functional classification of medical and non-medical interventions related to stem cells, rehabilitation, and palliative care.

The improvement of exercise performance in sports not only involves the enhancement of physical strength, but also includes the development of psychological and cognitive functions. There is an increasing body of evidence to show that physical exercise is a powerful way to improve a number of aspects of cognition and brain function at the systemic and behavioral levels. Yet, several questions remain: What type of exercise program is optimal for improving cognitive functions? What are the real effects of certain innovative exercise protocols on the relationship between behavior and the brain? To what extent do ergogenic aids boost cognitive function? How efficient are neuromodulation techniques in relation to behavioral performance? The answers to these questions likely require multidisciplinary insights not only from physiologists and sports scientists, but also from neuroscientists and psychologists. The manuscripts published (16 research papers and one perspective article from various academic fields) in this Special Issue Book “Exercise: A Gate That Primes the Brain to Perform” bring together current knowledge and novel directions in human exercise-cognition research dealing with performance. This book showcases the various relationships between cognitive function, brain activity, and behavioral performance with applications in sports and exercise science.

Skill Acquisition in Sport gives academics, students, coaches and practitioners the broadest and most scientifically rigorous grounding in the principles and practice of the field. Fully revised, updated and restructured, the third edition integrates theory and practice, and provides more material on practical application than ever before. Divided into four sections – providing instruction and feedback, organizing effective practice, training high-level skills, and the theories and mechanisms underpinning skill acquisition – the book covers a full range of key topics, including: the role of errors and rewards in motor learning instructions, demonstrations and feedback imagery in motor learning constraints-based and self-directed learning technique change, creativity training and visual gaze training practicing under pressure the neurophysiology of learning. Based on the latest research, including chapters on emerging topics, and written by a global cast of world-leading experts, Skill Acquisition in Sport is an essential textbook for any kinesiology or sport science student taking skill acquisition, expertise development or motor learning classes.