Separation of multiple motor memories through implicit and explicit processes

Abstract

Acquisition of multiple motor skills is a remarkable ability in everyday activities. Yet, the contribution of implicit and explicit learning processes during learning of multiple motor skills is still unclear. We sought to dissociate this ability during learning opposing visuomotor rotations, each associated with a contextual follow-through movement. We show that follow-through contextual cues influence activity of both implicit and explicit processes, suggesting that context-based top-down cognitive factors influence not only the explicit learning but also the implicit process.