Movement and perception recalibrate differently across multiple days of locomotor learning

Abstract

Learning a new movement through error-based adaptation leads to recalibration of movement and altered perception of that movement. Although presumed to be closely related, the relationship between adaptation-based motor and perceptual changes is not well understood. Here we investigated the changes in motor behavior and leg speed perception over 5 days of split-belt treadmill adaptation. We specifically wanted to know if changes in the perceptual domain would demonstrate savings-like behavior (i.e., less recalibration with more practice) and if these changes would parallel the savings observed in the motor domain. We found that the recalibration of leg speed perception decreased across days of training, indicating savings-like behavior in this domain. However, we observed that the magnitude of savings across days was different between motor and perceptual domains. These findings suggest a degree of independence between the motor and perceptual processes that occur with locomotor adaptation. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Error-based adaptation learning drives changes in movement and perception of movement. Are these changes across domains linked or simply coincidental? Here, we studied changes in movement and perception across 5 days of repeated locomotor adaptation. Savings-like behavior in the motor and perceptual domains developed with different magnitudes and over different timescales, leading us to conclude that motor and perceptual processes operate at least somewhat independently during locomotor adaptation.