Practice Makes Perfect

Recall back to when you were in kindergarten. You were 5, maybe 6 years old. You are learning the alphabet for the first time. You most likely were struggling at first to make the proper lines, dots, and curves to formulate corresponding letters. Now, imagine yourself as an undergraduate, sitting down in the middle of a final exam writing a response to an essay question. Most likely you are not thinking about how you are supposed to hold the pen and how you are supposed to be transferring the ink from your pen to the paper to scribe words. Similarly, when Stephen Curry gets fouled and steps up to the free throw line to shoot two shots, he doesn’t necessarily think about the motor sequence required making the shot- he simply does it.

According to Dr. Strick, of the Department of Neurobiology at Pitt School of Medicine, the part of the brain that plans and executes movement is the primary motor cortex. Their study shows that when one consistently practices a certain movement, it leads to the generation of further neuronal networking in the primary cortex of the brain that supports the execution of the corresponding movement.

These findings reinforce what Dr. Gobel of Northwestern University found in his study on motor skill neural correlates. Dr. Gobel found that sequence learning decreased activity in parietal, occipital, and the premotor cortex of the brain. Also, it led to an increase in efficiency in visually cued motor performances.  In cognitive psychology, sequence learning is an integrated part in human learning. What is learned and the extent it is retained can be greatly influenced by how the stimulus is presented.

The two studies compliment each other to a great extent. It sheds light upon the neuroplasticity of the primary motor cortex and its ability to accommodate for the mastering certain motor sequences. Through repeated practice and constant “fine-tuning” of the motor sequence for the activity you are trying to accomplish, your brain will act accordingly to formulate the proper neural correlates in order to accomplish your task with greater ease. This can be especially useful to prospective young athletes who want to play at a competitive level. When Michael Jordan did not make his varsity basketball team his sophomore year, he practiced day by day in order to improve his game until he notoriously established himself as one of the greatest basketball player of all time.

Research Article:

Gobel, E. W., Parrish, T. B., & Reber, P. J. (2011). Neural correlates of skill acquisition: decreased cortical activity during a serial interception sequence learning task. Neuroimage, 58(4), 1150-1157.

News Article:

University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences. (2013, August 4). Practice makes the brain's motor cortex more efficient. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 1, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130804144503.