AUTHOR=Yotsumoto Yuko , Watanabe Takeo , Chang Li-Hung , Sasaki Yuka 

TITLE=Consolidated learning can be susceptible to gradually-developing interference in prolonged motor learning

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2013

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/computational-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncom.2013.00069

DOI=10.3389/fncom.2013.00069

ISSN=1662-5188

ABSTRACT=When multiple items are learned in sequential order, learning for one item tends to be disrupted by subsequently learned items. Such retrograde interference has been studied with paradigms conducted over a relatively short term. Resistance to interference is generally believed to be a measure of learning or consolidation. Here, we used a finger-tapping motor sequence paradigm to examine interference in prolonged motor learning. Three groups of 9 subjects participated in training sessions for 16 days, and practiced three different sequences in different orders and combinations. We found that a well-trained motor sequence was subject to a gradual interference when the subsequent learning was paired in a particular order. The results suggest that a well-learned motor memory is still susceptible to interference, and that resistance to interference in one condition does not necessarily imply full, permanent consolidation.