New Advances in Motor Skill Learning

Michael Jordan said, “You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way.” While it may not have been his intention, he accurately described an aspect of motor learning. In the review entitled “Cortico-basal ganglia plasticity in motor learning” by Roth and Ding, the authors review the roles of different synaptic mechanisms in motor learning. Motor learning is essential to human function as it has helped humanity survive for millennia. The motor cortex in the brain is adaptive. It adapts to the level of practice and changes in the body. As previously mentioned, the body and brain can work together to perfect shooting from the middle of the free-throw line, but those results cannot be generalized from any angle. If one wanted to perfect their shot from the left side of the court, they would have to practice many times to get it down. 

The neurological underpinnings of motor learning are fascinating. The brain has the capacity for plasticity, which is its ability to reorganize its own neural networks. If we look back at the basketball example, the brain’s neural networks would begin to connect and strengthen after practicing in the new location. While plasticity is a fascinating part of the brain-body connection, it is still a relatively elusive area of neuroscience. In “Dopamine's Role in Learning New Motor Skills Revealed” from Technology Networks, the author describes how dopamine has been seen as being responsible for the onset of this neural reorganization. Dopamine plays a crucial role in plasticity as VTA dopamine is released to the primary motor cortex. The researchers hypothesized that this dopamine release is the catalyst for plasticity. In order to test their hypothesis, the researchers blocked dopamine in mice, and novel learning was halted. Dopamine’s effects on motor learning have significant applications, especially in the domain of research with neurological diseases that involve a lack of dopamine.

References

Technology Networks. (2025, April 2). Dopamine's role in learning new motor skills revealed. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/dopamines-role-in-learning-new-motor-skills-revealed-398033

Roth, R. H., & Ding, J. B. (2024). Cortico-basal ganglia plasticity in motor learning. Neuron, 112(15), 2486–2502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.06.014