Paul L. Gribble

Abstract The neural basis of movement preparation has been extensively studied during self-initiated actions, in which motor cortical activity during preparation shows a lawful relationship to the parameters of the subsequent action1,2. However, movements are regularly triggered or corrected on the basis of sensory inputs caused by disturbances to the body.

Abstract Learning to adapt voluntary movements to an external perturbation, whether mechanical or visual, is faster during a second encounter than during the first. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, known as savings, remain unclear. Recent studies propose that the high dimensionality of neural control enables the retention of learning traces that may facilitate savings.