Skill learning from kinesthetic feedback

BackgroundIt is important for a surgeon to perform surgical tasks under appropriate guidance from visual and kinesthetic feedback. However, our knowledge on kinesthetic (muscle) memory and its role in learning motor skills remains elementary.ObjectivesTo discover the effect of exclusive kinesthetic training on kinesthetic memory in both performance and learning.MethodsIn Phase 1, a total of twenty participants duplicated five 2 dimensional movements of increasing complexity via passive kinesthetic guidance, without visual or auditory stimuli. Five participants were asked to repeat the task in the Phase 2 over a period of three weeks, for a total of nine sessions.ResultsSubjects accurately recalled movement direction using kinesthetic memory, but recalling movement length was less precise. Over the nine training sessions, error occurrence dropped after the sixth session.ConclusionsMuscle memory constructs the foundation for kinesthetic training. Knowledge gained helps surgeons learn skills from kinesthetic information in the condition where visual feedback is limited.