Perception of effort decreases with motor sequence learning

Motor learning is proposed to be associated with a minimization or optimization of physical and cognitive resources. Effort involves the voluntary investment of resources for task performance. While these two constructs are intrinsically linked, their relationship has never been empirically examined. This study aimed to investigate how the perception of effort evolves throughout the motor learning process. Thirty young adults volunteered in this study. In a within-subject design, each participant had four visits to perform 10 blocks of a continuous tracking task on each visit. The sequences within these blocks were either random (control condition) or repeated (experimental condition). Following each block, participants rated the intensity of the effort invested to perform the task. Sequence-specific motor learning was observed, with the repeated outperforming the random sequence condition at the retention test. Perception of effort decreased with sequence-specific motor learning, which was not observed during practice of the random sequences. Our findings suggest that motor sequence learning reduces perceived effort. Thus, as sequence-specific task proficiency increases, individuals find the task less effortful. This link between learning a motor task and effort perception presents valuable opportunities for future research to investigate the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying motor learning and effort.