Brashers-Krug T, Shadmehr R, Todorov E (1995) Catastrophic interference in human motor learning. In: Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, vol. 7, G. Tesauro, D. S. Touretzky, T. K. Leen (eds), MIT Press, pp. 19-26.
Abstract Biological sensorimotor systems are
not static maps that transform input (sensory information) into output (motor
behavior). Evidence from many lines of research suggests that their
representations are plastic, experience-dependent entities. While this plasticity
is essential for flexible behavior, it presents the nervous system with
difficult organizational challenges. If the sensorimotor system adapts itself
to perform well under one set of circumstances, will it then perform poorly
when placed in an environment with different demands (negative transfer)? Will
a later experience-dependent change undo the benefits of previous learning
(catastrophic interference)? We explore the first question in a separate paper
in this volume (Shadmehr et al. 1995). Here we present psychophysical and
computational results that explore the question of catastrophic interference in
the context of a dynamic motor learning task. Under some conditions, subjects
show evidence of catastrophic interference. Under other conditions, however,
subjects appear to be immune to its effects. These results suggest that motor
learning can undergo a process of consolidation. Modular neural networks are
well suited for the demands of learning multiple input/output mappings. By
incorporating the notion of fast- and slow-changing connections into a modular
architecture, we were able to account for the psychophysical
results.