Neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying differences in motor control and skill learning in children, adolescents and adults.

Moving our hands and fingers enable us to engage effectively with our surroundings. We become more proficient in skillfully controlling our movements as we progress from childhood to adulthood. This likely relates to maturation and refinement of the central nervous system through experience and learning, but we know very little about these processes.

This PhD thesis aimed to investigate the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying differences in motor control and skill learning in children, adolescents, and adults. To this end, we non-invasively recorded electrical activity generated by the brain and muscles as children, adolescents and adults (age range 8-30y) performed and learned new finger movements.

We investigated age-related differences in the communication between parts of the nervous system involved in motor control, and how this changed as individuals learned a motor task. The results of our studies provide novel insights into the development of human motor control and human skill learning.