Neural correlates of motor skill learning are dependent on both age and task difficulty

Although a general age-related decline in neural plasticity is evident, the effects of age on neural plasticity after a period of motor practice are inconclusive. Inconsistencies in the literature may be related to differences in task difficulty between studies. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to determine the effects of age and task difficulty on motor learning and associated task-related brain activity. We used task-related electroencephalography (EEG) power in the alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) frequency bands to assess neural plasticity before, immediately after, and 24-h after practice of a mirror star tracing task at one of three difficulty levels in healthy younger (N=36, 19-24 yr) and older (N=36, 65-86 yr) adults.

This repository contains the two main data-sets used for analysis:
* Behavioral_Learning --> The behavioral outcomes of the mirror star tracing task (Movement Time, Bandwidth error and mean distance to the middle line)
* EEG_Learning --> The EEG outcomes: Task-related Power (%) in the alpha and beta frequency bands for different Regions of Interest (frontal, motor, and parietal cortices)

尽管神经可塑性（neural plasticity）随年龄增长的总体下降趋势已明确，但运动练习后年龄对神经可塑性的影响仍无定论。文献中的不一致性可能与各研究间任务难度的差异有关。因此，本研究旨在探究年龄与任务难度对运动学习及相关任务脑活动的影响。我们招募了健康的年轻成人（N=36，19-24岁）和老年成人（N=36，65-86岁），让其完成三种难度水平之一的镜像星形追踪任务，并在练习前、练习后即刻及练习后24小时，通过任务相关的脑电图（electroencephalography, EEG）在alpha（8-12 Hz）和beta（13-30 Hz）频段的功率来评估神经可塑性。本仓库包含用于分析的两个主要数据集：
* Behavioral_Learning --> 镜像星形追踪任务的行为结果（运动时间、带宽误差及与中线的平均距离）
* EEG_Learning --> EEG结果：不同感兴趣区域（额叶、运动皮层及顶叶皮层）在alpha和beta频段的任务相关功率（%）