Relationship between initial motor variability and learning and adaptive ability. A systematic review.

Abstract

Motor variability is an intrinsic feature of human beings that has been associated with the ability for learning and adaptation to specific tasks. The purpose of this review is to examine whether there is a possible direct relationship between individuals' initial variability, in both amount and structure variability, in their ability for learning and adaptation in motor tasks. Eighteen articles examined the relationship between initial motor variability and the ability for learning and adaptation. Twelve found a direct relationship. In reward learning task greater amount variability was associated with greater improvement learning, however, this association was not observed with structure variability. While in error learning task associations were reported with both greater amount variability and more complexity structure. Nevertheless, bias in initial performance related to the amount of variability was found, so the structure of initial variability seems to be a better indicator of improvement in this type of task. Further research is needed for further research to better understand the potential relationship between initial motor variability and the ability for learning and adaptation in motor tasks.