Data_Sheet_1_Sleep improves accuracy, but not speed, of generalized motor learning in young and older adults and in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.ZIP

An essential aspect of motor learning is generalizing procedural knowledge to facilitate skill acquisition across diverse conditions. Here, we examined the development of generalized motor learning during initial practice-dependent learning, and how distinct components of learning are consolidated over longer timescales during wakefulness or sleep. In the first experiment, a group of young healthy volunteers engaged in a novel motor sequence task over 36 h in a two-arm experimental design (either morning-evening-morning, or evening-morning-evening) aimed at controlling for circadian confounders. The findings unveiled an immediate, rapid generalization of sequential learning, accompanied by an additional long-timescale performance gain. Sleep modulated accuracy, but not speed, above and beyond equivalent wake intervals. To further elucidate the role of sleep across ages and under neurodegenerative disorders, a second experiment utilized the same task in a group of early-stage, drug-naïve individuals with Parkinson’s disease and in healthy individuals of comparable age. Participants with Parkinson’s disease exhibited comparable performance to their healthy age-matched group with the exception of reduced performance in recalling motor sequences, revealing a disease-related cognitive shortfall. In line with the results found in young subjects, both groups exhibited improved accuracy, but not speed, following a night of sleep. This result emphasizes the role of sleep in skill acquisition and provides a potential framework for deeper investigation of the intricate relationship between sleep, aging, Parkinson’s disease, and motor learning.

运动学习的关键特征之一，是将程序性知识进行泛化，以促进在多样化条件下的技能习得。本研究旨在探究初始练习依赖型学习过程中，泛化性运动学习的发展轨迹，以及在清醒或睡眠状态下，学习的不同组分如何在更长时间尺度上得到巩固。在第一项实验中，我们采用双臂实验设计（分为「晨-晚-晨」或「晚-晨-晚」两种方案），以控制昼夜节律混淆因素，让一组年轻健康志愿者在36小时内完成一项新型运动序列任务。研究结果揭示了序列学习的即时快速泛化现象，同时伴随额外的长时程性能提升。相较于同等时长的清醒间隔，睡眠对任务准确率的调节作用显著优于单纯清醒状态，且对反应速度无显著影响。为进一步阐明睡眠在不同年龄阶段及神经退行性疾病中的作用，第二项实验采用相同任务，分别纳入早期、首次未经药物治疗的帕金森病（Parkinson’s disease）患者，以及年龄匹配的健康受试者。与健康年龄匹配对照组相比，帕金森病患者的整体表现无显著差异，仅在运动序列回忆任务中表现更差，这揭示了该疾病相关的认知缺陷。与年轻受试者的实验结果一致，两组受试者在经过一夜睡眠后，准确率均得到提升，但反应速度未出现显著变化。该研究结果凸显了睡眠在技能习得中的重要作用，同时为深入探究睡眠、衰老、帕金森病与运动学习之间的复杂关联提供了潜在的研究框架。