Diary: Motor Learning

Show me the money

Can cold hard cash deliver improved upper-limb performance? Billy Mann didn't wait around to find out. He was too eager to bank the profits

I recently took part in a research project at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London, which aimed to test and record motor learning skills. The test used a specially constructed mechanical arm, which is operated by the test subject to different specifications and under different constraints.

Very simply, my stroke-affected left arm is placed in a moving mechanical arm beneath table-top screen, at the centre of which is located a cursor. At given intervals a luminated square appears randomly on the table-top screen into which I tried to move the cursor as quickly as possible. This is measured by the researcher as data and analysed in some way. To mix it up a bit, a spring resistance is added to the mechanical arm to alter the difficulty of the task. So, if the target square appears randomly in the 10 o'clock position, my attempt to move the cursor to that target is thwarted, as if somebody is pushing my arm in the opposite direction.

To mix it up further, in one test, each successful meeting of cursor and target is rewarded with a point. And each point is rewarded with a monetary value that I struggled to determine. I scored enough points to pocket £31.60.