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Open research questions in Motor Control and Adaptation

56 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,089 Motor Control and Adaptation papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • image Key points Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a weak electrical brain stimulation that may boost learning when paired with motor practice; however, its effects during lower‐limb skill training are not well known.

    Transcranial direct current stimulation enhances delayed retention after 5 days of lower‐limb motor skill learning · 2026 · DOI

  • While augmenting the behavioural benefits of motor practice is relevant for neurorehabilitation following central and peripheral lesions to the motor system, as well as in sports, the effects of tDCS targeting the mesial motor cortex (M1‐Leg) during multi‐session lower‐limb motor skill practice remain unexplored.

    Transcranial direct current stimulation enhances delayed retention after 5 days of lower‐limb motor skill learning · 2026 · DOI

  • Although grasp initiation is known to modulate activity in primary motor cortex (M1), it remains unclear if sustained grasp maintenance is represented in M1, whether it corresponds to an intrinsic M1 state or one that emerges through learning, and how this state contributes to skilled behaviors involving object manipulation.

    Representations of active grasp maintenance emerge during reach-grasp-carry learning in mouse motor cortex · 2026 · DOI

  • However, further research is needed to systematically investigate different visualization techniques and the degree of discrepancy information between criterion and actual motion. The innovative methods developed in this work have broad application potential and warrant further exploration, particularly in the context of performance optimization and injury prevention.

    Real-time feedback in video-based motor learning: A pilot study exploring innovative training methods · 2026 · DOI

  • Internal forward models predict the sensory consequences of motor commands; however, whether the anticipated availability of post-action feedback contributes to the precision of the action itself remains unknown.

    Anticipated Loss of Action Consequences Disrupts Motor Execution in Skilled Basketball Shooting · 2026 · DOI

  • While the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) is known to be essential for skilled limb movements, it remains unclear how distinct functional ensembles within its network uniquely contribute to motor control.

    Proprioceptive Cortical Neurons Implement Optimal State Estimation · 2026 · DOI

  • However, few studies are on the learning generalization of BCI-actuated supernumerary robotic finger (BCI-SRF) for human-machine interaction training, and no studies have explored its longitudinal neuroplasticity mechanisms.

    An fMRI study on the generalization of motor learning after brain actuated supernumerary robot training · 2024 · DOI

  • For complex motor skills like volleyball setting, sequential FOA instructions (S-FOA) are often given to facilitate skill acquisition and performance, but it remains unknown whether internal and external FOA instructions would impact motor performance of skilled and novice players differently.

    Sequential focus of attention instructions influenced motor performance of volleyball setting despite direction of focus but dependent on motor expertise of the player · 2022 · DOI

  • The actual influence of handedness (especially left-handedness, since almost 10% of the population is left-handed) onto writing performance has not been fully studied in previous research.

    Does handedness matter? Writing and tracing kinematic analysis in healthy adults · 2019 · DOI

  • Although research on ACL injury pathomechanics has advanced, the underlying reasons for uncoordinated, high-velocity movements observed during noncontact sprains are not well understood.

    Brains and Sprains: The Brain's Role in Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries · 2015 · DOI

  • However, the developmental time course over which posture is stabilized relative to the base of support during a dynamic manual precision task has not been examined.

    Developmental Changes in Postural Stability During the Performance of a Precision Manual Task · 2013 · DOI

  • Among the several open issues regarding this use of RM stand the following three: (a) how the joint actions of dynamic and kinematic variables are integrated in RM; (b) the effect of specific response modalities; and (c) how RM relates to causal phenomenology.

    Functional approach to the integration of kinematic and dynamic variables in causal perception: Is there a link between phenomenology and behavioral responses?<sup>1</sup> · 2008 · DOI

  • An extensive program of research conducted by Edward Taub with monkeys from whose forelimbs somatic sensation had been surgically abolished has shown that when injury to the nervous system takes place, there is potential for chronic disuse of a body part or function to occur that is in excess of what is warranted by damage to the physiological substrate (summarized in Taub, 1977).

    Implications of the learned nonuse formulation for measuring rehabilitation outcomes: Lessons from constraint-induced movement therapy. · 2005 · DOI

  • The method of investigation which has been described here makes it possible to examine a number of perceptual problems concerning the importance of the visual and the kinesthetical/tactile stimulation in body perception. The results obtained so far promise that research in personality will be feasible. Subjective experiences of control and perceptual stability and personal identity with regard to an important part of the body, such as the right hand, can be shaken and broken down completely in laboratory experiments. On investigating the emotional reactions in consequence of this and on studying the new world of experiences that arises when the habitual one breaks down, a number of characteristic ways of experiencing and behaving appear, ways which might form a starting-point for research in differential psychology. I wish to thank my colleague, cand. psych. Jan Rattleff, for suggesting important improvements in the original experimental design described elsewhere (Nielsen, I 963). The present study was supported by a grant from the Danish National Science Foundation. R E F E R E N C E S NIELSEN, T. I. (1963). Forstyrrelser og paradokser i viljeslivet-fremkaldt eksperimentelt (with an English summary). Nord. Psykol., 15, 183-192. RASMUSSEN, E. TRANEKJWR (1960). Dynamisk psykologi og dens grundlug. Copenhagen: Munksgaard. Scand. I. Psychol., VoL.

    VOLITION: A NEW EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH · 1963 · DOI

  • (lo), ( 1 3 ) and (17) can provide useful approximations for practical use, further research is required. No adjustment could be made to Birren and Botwinick's results as no data were available about errors, but fits were tried to the results of Henmon and of Botwinick et al.

    THE MEASUREMENT OF SENSORY-MOTOR PERFORMANCE : SURVEY AND REAPPRAISAL OF TWELVE YEARS' PROGRESS · 1960 · DOI

  • These findings suggest that leadership phenomena emerge more strikingly in the quad condition and that further research on this topic might well take the form of systematic variation of the composition of the team with respect to characteristics of the individual team-mates.

    Team and Individual Performances on a Motor Learning Task · 1956 · DOI

  • The present observations were limited to the apparent in the visual field and more especially by the fact the apparent rotation that of longer time than did the to its new position required a far application of the centrifugal force. In other words, a flyer who is subjected to rapid acceleration or deceleration over a short period will not experience the full disorienting effects because there is insufficient require considerble time for their manifestation.

    The Delay in Visual Reorientation following Exposure to a Change in Direction of Resultant Force on a Human Centrifuge · 1951 · DOI

  • Abstract Attentional focus instructions have long been recognized for their impact on motor performance and learning, yet their influence on the neuromechanical aspects of gait—spanning multiple analytical levels—remains underexplored.

    Attentional focus modulates neuromechanical organization and motor complexity during walking · 2026 · DOI

  • Interception of moving objects requires the nervous system to compensate for sensory delays and uncertainty, yet how behavior is controlled remains debated.

    Flexible predictive control in human interception under visual occlusion and altered gravity · 2026 · DOI

  • Another open question is whether observers adopt a single control strategy or flexibly switch between predictive and reactive control - or between different predictive strategies - depending on task demands.

    Flexible predictive control in human interception under visual occlusion and altered gravity · 2026 · DOI

  • Although muscle spindle sensory signals have been extensively studied, little is known about how and why muscle spindle firing is modulated by the central nervous system during movement.

    The mammalian muscle spindle as a tunable feedback controller in locomotion · 2026 · DOI

  • While several studies have addressed how leg movement or inter-leg coordination may change during turning, relatively little is known about how turning-related changes scale with turn magnitude.

    Walking in circles: Linking high- and low-level parameter scaling of visually guided and spontaneous turning behaviour · 2026 · DOI

  • Although analysis method and response mode were identified as significant moderators, most moderators and specific contrasts were not statistically significant, likely because too few studies were available to achieve adequate statistical power.

    Crossing effects in the tactile temporal order judgment task: A meta-analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Dyad practice—two learners alternating between physical and observational practice—can enhance motor learning, but its effects on proprioceptive learning remain unclear.

    Dyad Practice Does Not Enhance Proprioceptive Learning · 2026 · DOI

  • Dynamic learning, characterised by constantly changing conditions and the need for adaptation, is considered an advanced motor learning strategy, though its effectiveness in Parkinson’s disease remains debated.

    The Effect of Dynamic and Constant Fast-Precise Movement Learning on the Psycho-Emotional State, Motor and Cognitive Functions of Patients With Parkinson’s Disease · 2026 · DOI

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56 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,089 Motor Control and Adaptation papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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