Evidence for an efferent-based prediction contributing to implicit motor adaptation

Models of sensorimotor adaptation have proposed that implicit adaptation is driven by error signals created by discrepancies between various sensory information sources. While proprioception has been suggested as a critical source for the error signals driving adaptation, the role of an efferent-based motor prediction has largely been neglected. In this study, we examined the effect of dissociating the afferent and efferent information available during implicit adaptation. Participants moved a visual cursor towards targets by applying horizontal forces to a stationary handle at a central home location. During perturbation trials, the cursor followed an invariant path rotated relative to the target. Participants were instructed to ignore this task-irrelevant cursor feedback and to isometrically “reach” towards the target. Participants implicitly adapted in the isometric task, even when the hand never actually moved to the target. Moreover, the level of adaptation surpassed that of a typical clamped reaching paradigm by nearly twofold. This was confirmed in a secondary experiment where participants performed actual reaching movements and demonstrated significantly less adaptation. Our findings suggest that while afferent proprioceptive feedback of hand position around the target most likely plays a role in adaptation, it is not necessary to induce adaptation.