Motor skills learning and maintenance.
The ability to perform a sequence of movements is a key component of motor skills (e.g., typing, playing a musical instrument, etc.). The acquisition of such skills requires practice, often over very long periods of time, to develop a high level of performance. Once learned, motor skills are typically retained, but most skills may be improved with further practice to attain expert performance.
We are studying neural basis of learning and maintenance of motor skills by using physiological and pharmacological approaches in non-human primates.
Representative Publications
Inhibition of protein synthesis in M1 of monkeys disrupts performance of sequential movements guided by memory.
Ohbayashi, M.
eLife (2020)
Inactivation of the Dorsal Premotor Area Disrupts Internally Generated, But Not Visually Guided, Sequential Movements.
Ohbayashi, M., Picard, N. and Strick, P.L.
Journal of Neuroscience (2016)
Conversion of working memory to motor sequence in the monkey premotor cortex.
Ohbayashi, M., Ohki, K. and Miyashita, Y.
Science (2003)
Top-down signal from prefrontal cortex in executive control of memory retrieval.
Tomita, H., Ohbayashi, M., Nakahara, K., Hasegawa, I. and Miyashita, Y.
Nature (1999)