To investigate the spatial and
temporal changes in electro-cortical
brain activity and
hand kinematics during the acquisition of an internal model of a novel screen-cursor transformation, we employed single-trial infomax
independent component analysis (ICA),
spectral estimation, and kinematics methods. Participants performed center-out drawing movements under normal and rotated
visual feedback of pen movements displayed on a computer screen. Clustering of task-related and adaptation-related independent components identified a
selective recruitment of
brain activation/deactivation foci associated with the exposure to the distorted
visual feedback, including networks associated with frontal-, central-, and lateral-posterior
alpha rhythms, and frontal-central error-related negativity potential associated with transient theta and low
beta rhythms locked to movement onset. Moreover, adaptation to the rotated reference frame was associated with a reduction in the imposed directional bias and decreases in movement
path length and movement time by late-exposure trials, as well as after-effects after removal of the
visual distortion. The underlying spatiotemporal pattern of
activations is consistent with recruitment of frontal-parietal, sensory-motor, and
anterior cingulate cortical areas during visuomotor adaptation.
