Using mental strategies to improve movement and everyday tasks
Approaching sensorimotor learning from another angle: Exploring and leveraging different cognitive strategies for improving motor performance
This project tests whether teaching different thinking strategies helps adults — including people with cerebellar problems like spinocerebellar ataxia — learn and adjust movements more quickly for daily activities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Princeton University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Princeton, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11290337 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would practice movement tasks while trying two kinds of mental strategies: an algorithm-like approach where you mentally simulate an action before doing it, and a retrieval-like approach where you reuse previously successful moves from short-term memory. The team will compare performance in people with healthy brains and people with spinocerebellar ataxia to see how the cerebellum supports these strategies. They will look at whether people can get better at using each strategy, how effortful they are, and how they interact with slower, implicit motor learning. The researchers aim to use these insights to design new rehabilitation techniques for cerebellar damage.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates include adults with spinocerebellar ataxia or other cerebellar disorders that cause coordination problems, and healthy volunteers for comparison.
Not a fit: People with severe limb paralysis, advanced cognitive impairment, or movement loss caused solely by peripheral nerve damage are unlikely to benefit directly from this approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could produce new rehabilitation methods that help people with cerebellar damage improve coordination and everyday independence.
How similar studies have performed: Laboratory studies show that cognitive strategies can speed motor learning in healthy people, but using these strategies as clinical rehabilitation for cerebellar disease is mostly novel.
Where this research is happening
Princeton, UNITED STATES
- Princeton University — Princeton, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Taylor, Jordan a — Princeton University
- Study coordinator: Taylor, Jordan a
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.