Startle reduces recall of a recently learned internal model

Abstract

Recent work has shown that preplanned motor programs are released early from subcortical areas by the using a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS). Our question is whether this response might also contain a recently learned internal model, which draws on experience to predict and compensate for expected perturbations in a feedforward manner. Studies of adaptation to robotic forces have shown some evidence of this, but were potentially confounded by cocontraction caused by startle. We performed a new adaptation experiment using a visually distorted field that could not be confounded by cocontraction. We found that in all subjects that exhibited startle, the startle stimulus (1) reduced performance of the recently learned task (2) reduced after-effect magnitudes. Because startle reduced but did not eliminate the recall of learned control, we suggest that multiple neural centers (cortical and subcortical) are involved in such learning and adaptation, which can impact training areas such as piloting, teleoperation, sports, and rehabilitation.