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{{short description|Unconscious memory used to perform tasks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
'''Procedural memory''' is a type of [[implicit memory]] ([[Unconscious mind|unconscious]], [[long-term memory|long-term]] memory) which aids the performance of particular types of tasks without [[Consciousness|conscious]] awareness of these previous [[experience]]s.
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== Working memory ==
Models of working memory primarily focused on declarative memory until Oberauer suggested that declarative and procedural memory may be processed differently in working memory.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S007974210951002X|last=Oberauer|first=Klaus|pages=45–100|doi=10.1016/s0079-7421(09)51002-x|title=The Psychology of Learning and Motivation|volume=51|year=2009|isbn=9780123744890|chapter=Chapter 2 Design for a Working Memory|s2cid=53933457 |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/28472/1/Oberauer_PLM_2009.pdf}}</ref> The working memory model is thought to be divided into two subcomponents; one is responsible for declarative, while the other represents procedural memory.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oberauer|first1=Klaus|last2=Souza|first2=Alessandra S.|last3=Druey|first3=Michel D.|last4=Gade|first4=Miriam|title=Analogous mechanisms of selection and updating in declarative and procedural working memory: Experiments and a computational model|journal=Cognitive Psychology|volume=66|issue=2|pages=157–211|doi=10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.11.001|pmid=23276689|year=2013|s2cid=20150745
==Acquisition of skill==
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One model for understanding skill acquisition was proposed by [[Paul Fitts|Fitts]] (1954) and his colleagues. This model proposed the idea that learning was possible through the completion of various stages. The stages involved include:
* Cognitive phase<ref name="fits">{{cite journal | last1 = Fitts | first1 = P. M. | year = 1954 | title = The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement
* Associative phase<ref name="fits"/><ref name="fits2"/>
* Autonomous phase (also called the procedural phase)<ref name="fits"/><ref name="fits2"/>
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=== Practice and the power law of learning ===
[[Practice (learning method)|Practice]] can be an effective way to learn new skills if knowledge of the result, more commonly known as [[Corrective feedback|feedback]], is involved.<ref>{{Cite book|title=How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition|last=Council|first=National Research|date=23 August 1999|isbn=9780309070362|pages=177|language=en|doi=10.17226/9853}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Learning and memory : from brain to behavior|last1=Eduardo.|first1=Mercado|last2=E.|first2=Myers, Catherine|date=1 January 2014|publisher=Worth Publishers|isbn=9781429240147|pages=311|oclc=900627172}}</ref> There is an observed phenomenon known as the [[Power law of practice|power law of learning]], which predicts the rate of skill acquisition over practice time. The power law of learning says that learning occurs at the fastest rate in the beginning then drastically tapers off. The rate at which practice loses its ability to sharpen execution is independent from the skill being practiced and the type of animal learning the skill. For example, participants in a reading speed study made the greatest leap in the first days of the experiment, while additional days of practice saw only slight improvement.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Learning and memory : from brain to behavior|last1=Eduardo.|first1=Mercado|last2=E.|first2=Myers, Catherine|year=2014|isbn=9781429240147|pages=311–312|publisher=Worth Publishers |oclc=961181739}}</ref>
The power law of learning can be overcome if the subject is shown a more effective way to accomplish the task. A study subject was shown a film comparing his task performance, kicking a target as rapidly as possible, with that of a known way of minimizing kicking time. Though the subject had reached the limit of his ability to improve through practice as predicted by the power law of learning, viewing the film resulted in a breakthrough in his ability that defied the power law of learning. Viewing the film is an example of [[observational learning]], which effectively gives the viewer new memories of a technique to draw upon for his or her future performances of the task.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Learning and memory : from brain to behavior|last1=Eduardo.|first1=Mercado|last2=E.|first2=Myers, Catherine|year=2014|isbn=9781429240147|pages=312|publisher=Worth Publishers |oclc=961181739}}</ref>
==Tests==
===Pursuit rotor task===
A device used to study visual-motor tracking skills and [[hand–eye coordination]] by requiring the participant to follow a moving object with a [[cursor (computers)|cursor]]<ref name="Cognitive Atlas">{{Cite web | url=http://www.cognitiveatlas.org | title=Cognitive Atlas}}</ref> or use a [[stylus]] to follow the target on a computer screen or a turntable.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://149.142.158.188/phenowiki/wiki/index.php/Pursuit_Rotor_Task |title=Pursuit Rotor Task - Phenowiki |access-date=27 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927220537/http://149.142.158.188/phenowiki/wiki/index.php/Pursuit_Rotor_Task |archive-date=27 September 2013 }}</ref> With the computer screen version, the participant follows a dot on a circular path like the one shown below.<ref>{{Cite web | url=
The pursuit rotor task is a simple pure visual-motor tracking test that has consistent results within age groups.<ref name="Lang">{{cite journal | doi=10.1016/0191-8869(81)90025-8 | volume=2 | issue=3 | title=Learning and reminiscence in the pursuit rotor performance of normal and depressed subjects | journal=Personality and Individual Differences | pages=207–213 | year=1981 | last1 = Lang | first1 = Rudie J.}}</ref> This displays a measurement of procedural memory as well as demonstrates the participant's [[fine motor skill]]s. The pursuit rotor task tests the fine-motor skills which are controlled by the motor cortex illustrated by the green section below. [[File:Cerebral lobes.png|thumb]]<ref name="Allen">{{cite journal | last1 = Allen | first1 = J.S. | last2 = Anderson | first2 = S.W. | last3 = Castro-Caldas | first3 = A. | last4 = Cavaco | first4 = S. | last5 = Damasio | first5 = H. | year = 2004 | title = The scope of preserved procedural memory in amnesia | journal = Brain | volume = 127 | issue = 8| pages = 1853–67 | doi = 10.1093/brain/awh208 | pmid = 15215216 | doi-access = free | hdl = 10400.16/509 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> The results are then calculated by the participant's time-on and time-off the object. Amnesic participants show no impairment in this motor task when tested at later trials. It does however seem to be affected by lack of sleep and drug use.<ref name="Dotto">{{cite journal | last1 = Dotto | first1 = L | year = 1996 | title = Sleep Stages, Memory and Learning | journal = Canadian Medical Association Journal | volume = 154 | issue = 8| pages = 1193–6 | pmid = 8612256 | pmc = 1487644 }}</ref>
===Serial reaction time task===
This task involves having participants retain and learn procedural skills that assess specific memory for procedural-motor skill.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Balota | first1 = D.A. | last2 = Connor | first2 = L.T. | last3 = Ferraro | first3 = F.R. | year = 1993 | title = Implicit Memory and the Formation of New Associations in Nondemented Parkinson's Disease Individuals and Individuals with Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type: A Serial Reaction Time (SRT) Investigation
===Mirror tracing task===
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===Weather prediction task===
Specifically, this task uses experimental analysis of weather prediction. As a probability learning task, the participant is required to indicate what strategy they are using to solve the task. It is a cognitively-oriented task that is learned in a procedural manner.<ref name="Acquisition of Mirror Tracing"/> It
=== Choice reaction task ===
Choice reaction tasks have been used to assess working memory.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shahar|first1=Nitzan|last2=Teodorescu|first2=Andrei R.|last3=Usher|first3=Marius|last4=Pereg|first4=Maayan|last5=Meiran|first5=Nachshon|title=Selective influence of working memory load on exceptionally slow reaction times.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|language=en|volume=143|issue=5|pages=1837–1860|doi=10.1037/a0037190|pmid=25000446|year=2014}}</ref> It has been determined to be useful in gauging procedural working memory by asking participants to follow stimulus-reaction rules.<ref name="Shahar 197–204">{{Cite journal|last1=Shahar|first1=Nitzan|last2=Teodorescu|first2=Andrei R.|last3=Anholt|first3=Gideon E.|last4=Karmon-Presser|first4=Anat|last5=Meiran|first5=Nachshon|title=Examining procedural working memory processing in obsessive-compulsive disorder|journal=Psychiatry Research|volume=253|pages=197–204|doi=10.1016/j.psychres.2017.03.048|pmid=28390295|year=2017|s2cid=13070999
==Expertise==
===Divided attention===
There are several factors that contribute to the exceptional performance of a skill: memory capacities,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chase | first1 = W. G. | last2 = Simon | first2 = H. A. | year = 1973 | title = Perception in chess | journal = Cognitive Psychology | volume = 4 | pages = 55–81 | doi=10.1016/0010-0285(73)90004-2}}</ref><ref>Starkes, J. L., & Deakin, J. (1984). Perception in sport: A cognitive approach to skilled performance. In W. F. Straub & J. M. Williams (Eds.), Cognitive sport psychology (pp. 115–128). Lansing, MI: Sport Science Associates.</ref> knowledge structures,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chi | first1 = M. T. | last2 = Feltovich | first2 = P. J. | last3 = Glaser | first3 = R. | year = 1981 | title = Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts and novices | journal = Cognitive Science | volume = 5 | issue = 2| pages = 121–152 | doi=10.1207/s15516709cog0502_2| doi-access =
===Choking under pressure===
It is well established that highly practiced, over-learned skills are performed automatically; they are controlled in real time, supported by procedural memory, require little attention, and operate largely outside of [[working memory]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Anderson | first1 = J. R. | year = 1982 | title = Acquisition of a cognitive skill | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 89 | issue = 4| pages = 369–406 | doi=10.1037/0033-295x.89.4.369| s2cid = 18877678
====Rising to the occasion====
If choking on skill-based or co-ordination oriented tasks requires the pressure of the situation to cause the performer's increased conscious attention to his or her process of performance, then the reverse can also be true. A relatively unexplored area of scientific research is the concept of "rising to the occasion." One common misconception is that a person must be an expert in order to have consistent success under pressure. On the contrary, implicit knowledge has been hypothesized to only partially mediate the relationship between expertise and performance.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Otten | first1 = M | year = 2009 | title = Choking vs. Clutch Performance: A Study of Sport Performance Under Pressure
====Famous examples of choking====
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== Genetic influence ==
Genetic makeup has been found to impact skill learning and performance, and therefore plays a role in achieving expertise. Using the pursuit rotor task, one study examined the effects of [[Practice (learning method)|practice]] in identical and fraternal twins raised in separate homes. Because identical twins share 100% of their genes while fraternal twins share 50%, the impact of genetic makeup on skill learning could be examined. The results of the pursuit rotor task test became more identical with practice over time for the identical twins, whereas the results for the fraternal twins became more disparate with practice. In other words, the performance of the skill by the identical twins became closer to 100% identical, while the fraternal twins' skill performance became less identical, suggesting the 50% difference in genetic makeup is responsible for the difference in skill performance. The study shows that more practice leads to a closer representation of a person's innate capability, also known as [[Aptitude|talent]]. Therefore, some of the differences people show after extended practice increasingly reflects their genetics. The study also confirmed the idea that practice improves skill learning by showing that, in both the identical and fraternal groups, more practice aided in shedding ineffective tendencies in order to improve execution of a given skill.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fox|first1=Paul W.|last2=Hershberger|first2=Scott L.|last3=Bouchard|first3=Thomas J.|date=28 November 1996|title=Genetic and environmental contributions to the acquisition of a motor skill|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=384|issue=6607|pages=356–358|doi=10.1038/384356a0|pmid=8934520|bibcode=1996Natur.384..356F|s2cid=4354381
==Anatomical structures==
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The [[dorsolateral]] striatum is associated with the acquisition of habits and is the main neuronal cell nucleus linked to procedural memory. Connecting excitatory [[afferent nerve fiber]]s help in the regulation of activity in the basal ganglia circuit. Essentially, two parallel information processing pathways diverge from the striatum. Both acting in opposition to each other in the control of movement, they allow for association with other needed functional structures<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Alexander | first1 = GE | last2 = Crutcher | first2 = MD | year = 1990 | title = Functional architecture of basal ganglia circuits; neural substrates of parallel processing | journal = Trends Neurosci | volume = 13 | issue = 7| pages = 266–271 | doi=10.1016/0166-2236(90)90107-l | pmid=1695401| s2cid = 3990601 }}</ref> One pathway is direct while the other is indirect and all pathways work together to allow for a functional neural feedback loop. Many looping circuits connect back at the striatum from other areas of the brain; including those from the emotion-center linked limbic cortex, the reward-center linked [[ventral striatum]] and other important motor regions related to movement.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Haber | first1 = SN | last2 = Fudge | first2 = JL | last3 = McFarland | first3 = NR | year = 2000 | title = Striatonigrostriatal pathways in primates form an ascending spiral from the shell to the dorsolateral striatum | journal = J. Neurosci. | volume = 20 | issue = 6| pages = 2369–2382 | doi = 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.20-06-02369.2000 | pmid = 10704511 | pmc = 6772499 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The main looping circuit involved in the motor skill part of procedural memory is usually called the cortex-basal ganglia-thalamus-cortex loop.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Parent | first1 = A | year = 1990 | title = Extrinsic connections of the basal ganglia | journal = Trends Neurosci | volume = 13 | issue = 7| pages = 254–258 | doi=10.1016/0166-2236(90)90105-j| pmid = 1695399 | s2cid = 3995498 }}</ref>
The striatum is unique because it lacks the [[glutamate]]-related neurons found throughout most of the brain. Instead, it is categorized by a high concentration of a special type of [[GABA]] related inhibiting cell known as the [[medium spiny neuron]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = Y. | last2 = Raju | first2 = D. V. | last3 = Pare | first3 = J. F. | last4 = Sidibe | first4 = M. | year = 2004 | title = The thalamostriatal system: a highly specific network of the basal ganglia circuitry
Current understanding of brain anatomy and physiology suggests that striatal neural plasticity is what allows basal ganglia circuits to communicate between structures and to functionally operate in procedural memory processing.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kreitzer | first1 = AC | year = 2009 | title = Physiology and pharmacology of striatal neurons | journal = Annual Review of Neuroscience| volume = 32 | pages = 127–47 | doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135422| pmid = 19400717 }}</ref>
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{{further|topic=the cerebellum|Cerebellum}}
[[File:Cerebellum.png|thumb|right|The cerebellum is highlighted red]]
The [[cerebellum]] is known to play a part in correcting movement and in fine-tuning the motor agility found in procedural skills such as painting, instrument playing and in sports such as golf. Damage to this area may prevent the proper relearning of motor skills and through associated research it has more recently been linked to having a role in automating the unconscious process used when learning a procedural skill.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Saywell | first1 = N | last2 = Taylor | first2 = D | date = Oct 2008 | title = The role of the cerebellum in procedural learning – are there implications for physiotherapists' clinical practice?. | journal = Physiotherapy: Theory and Practice | volume = 24 | issue = 5| pages = 321–8 | doi=10.1080/09593980701884832| pmid = 18821439 | s2cid = 205654506 }}</ref> New thoughts in the scientific community suggest that the cerebellar cortex holds the holy grail of memory, what is known to researchers as "the [[
===Limbic system===
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{{further|topic=dopamine|Dopamine}}
[[File:Dopamine Pathways.png|thumb|right|Dopamine Pathways in the brain highlighted in Blue]]
[[Dopamine]] is one of the more known neuromodulators involved in procedural memory. Evidence suggests that it may influence neural plasticity in memory systems by adapting brain processing when the environment is changing and an individual is then forced to make a behavioural choice or series of rapid decisions. It is very important in the process of "adaptive navigation", which serves to help different brain areas respond together during a new situation that has many unknown stimuli and features.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mizumori | first1 = SJ | last2 = Puryear | first2 = CB | last3 = Martig | first3 = AK | date = Apr 2009 | title = Basal ganglia contributions to adaptive navigation
===At the synapse===
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}}
Current Research indicates that procedural memory problems in [[Alzheimer's]] may be caused by changes in enzyme activity in memory-integrating brain regions such as the hippocampus. The specific enzyme linked to these changes is called [[acetylcholinesterase]] (AchE) which may be affected by a genetic predisposition in an immune-system brain receptor called the histamine H1 receptor. The same current scientific information also looks at how [[dopamine]], [[serotonin]] and [[acetylcholine]] neurotransmitter levels vary in the cerebellum of patients that have this disease. Modern findings advance the idea that the [[histamine]] system may be responsible for the cognitive deficits found in Alzheimer's and for the potential procedural memory problems that may develop as a result of the [[psychopathology]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dere | first1 = E. | last2 = Zlomuzica | first2 = A. | last3 = Viggiano | first3 = D. | last4 = Ruocco | first4 = L.A. | last5 = Watanabe | first5 = T. | last6 = Sadile | first6 = A.G. | last7 = Huston | first7 = J.P. | last8 = Souza-Silva | first8 = M.A. De | year = 2008 | title = Episodic-like and procedural memory impairments in histamine H1 Receptor knockout mice coincide with changes in acetylcholine esterase activity in the hippocampus and dopamine turnover in the cerebellum
===Tourette syndrome===
{{further|topic=Tourette syndrome|Tourette syndrome}}
This disease of the central nervous system, like many other procedural-memory related disorders, involves changes in the associated subcortical brain area known as the striatum. This area and the brain circuits closely interacting with it from the basal ganglia are affected both structurally and at a more functional level in the people affected by [[Tourette's syndrome]]. Current literature on this topic provides evidence for there being many unique forms of procedural memory. The one most relevant to procedural memory and most common in Tourette's is related to the skill-acquisition process that ties stimuli to response during the learning part of procedural memory.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Marsh | first1 = R | last2 = Alexander | first2 = GM | last3 = Packard | first3 = MG | last4 = Zhu | first4 = H | last5 = Peterson | first5 = BS | year = 2005 | title = Perceptual-motor skill learning in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Evidence for multiple procedural learning and memory systems
One study has found that those with Tourette syndrome have enhanced procedural learning. Subjects with Tourette's syndrome were found to have more quickly processed procedural knowledge and more accurately learned procedural skills than their typically developed counterparts. Another study found that subjects with Tourette's syndrome displayed faster processing of rule-based grammar than typically developed subjects. Two possible explanations exist for these results. One explanation is that once a person with Tourette's syndrome has learned a procedure, there is a mechanism that supports more accelerated processing. Second, because procedural memory subserves sequencing, and grammar recruits sequencing, an enhancement of grammatical processing was seen in those with Tourette's syndrome due to their improved procedural memories.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Takács | first1 = A | last2 = et | first2 = al. | title = Is procedural memory enhanced in Tourette syndrome? Evidence from a sequence learning task | journal = Cortex | volume = 100 | pages = 84–94 | year = 2017 | doi=10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.037| pmid = 28964503 | s2cid = 3634434 | url = http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/149676/7/149676.pdf }}</ref>
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===Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)===
{{further|topic=human immunodeficiency virus|HIV}}
Neural systems used by procedural memory are commonly targeted by [[Human Immunodeficiency Virus]]; the striatum being the structure most notably affected.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Reger | first1 = M | last2 = Welsh | first2 = R | last3 = Razani | first3 = J | last4 = Martin | first4 = DJ | last5 = Boone | first5 = KB | year = 2002 | title = A meta-analysis of the neuropsychological sequelae of HIV infection | journal = Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society | volume = 8 | issue = 3| pages = 410–424 | doi=10.1017/s1355617702813212| pmid = 11939699 | s2cid = 30520253 }}</ref> MRI studies have even shown white matter irregularity and basal ganglia subcortical atrophy in these vital areas necessary for both procedural memory and motor-skill.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Chang | first1 = L | last2 = Lee | first2 = PL | last3 = Yiannoutsos | first3 = CT | last4 = Ernst | first4 = T | last5 = Marra | first5 = CM | last6 = Richards | first6 = T | display-authors = etal | year = 2004 | title = A multicenter in vivo proton-MRS study of HIV-associated dementia and its relationship to age
===Huntington's disease===
{{further|topic=Huntington's disease|Huntington's disease}}
[[File:Huntington.jpg|thumb|left|Coronal FSPGR through the brain of Huntington's patient]]
Despite [[Huntington's disease]] being a disorder that directly affects striatal areas of the brain used in procedural memory, most individuals with
===Obsessive compulsive disorder===
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===Schizophrenia===
{{further|topic=schizophrenia|Schizophrenia}}
MRI studies have shown that [[schizophrenic]] patients not currently taking related medication have a smaller [[putamen
==Drugs==
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===Cocaine===
{{further|topic=cocaine|Cocaine}}
It is evident that long-term [[cocaine]] abuse alters brain structures. Research has shown that the brain structures that are immediately affected by long-term cocaine abuse include: cerebral [[hypoperfusion]] in the frontal, periventricular and temporal-parietal.<ref name="cocaine abuse">{{cite journal | last1 = Strickland | first1 = T. L. | last2 = Mena | first2 = I. | last3 = Villanueva-Meyer | first3 = J. | last4 = Miller | first4 = B. L. | last5 = Cummings | first5 = J. | last6 = Mehringer | first6 = C. M. | last7 = Satz | first7 = P. | last8 = Myers | first8 = H. | year = 1993 | title = Cerebral perfusion and neuropsychological consequences of chronic cocaine use | journal = The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences| volume = 5 | issue = 4| pages = 419–427 | doi=10.1176/jnp.5.4.419| pmid = 8286941 }}</ref> These structures play a role in various memory systems. Furthermore, the drug cocaine elicits its desirable effects by blocking the DRD1 dopamine receptors in the striatum, resulting in increased dopamine levels in the brain.<ref name="cocaine abuse"/> These receptors are important for the consolidation of procedural memory. These increased dopamine levels in the brain resultant of cocaine use is similar to the increased dopamine levels in the brain found in schizophrenics.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Serper | first1 = M. R. | last2 = Bermanc | first2 = A. | last3 = Copersinoa | first3 = M. L. | last4 = Choub | first4 = J. C. Y. | last5 = Richarmea | first5 = D. | last6 = Cancrob | first6 = R. | year = 2000 | title = Learning and memory impairment in cocaine-dependent and comorbid schizophrenic patients | journal = Psychiatry Research | volume = 93 | issue = 1| pages = 21–32 | doi=10.1016/s0165-1781(99)00122-5| pmid = 10699225 | s2cid = 44527373 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Studies have compared the common memory deficits caused by both cases to further understand the neural networks of procedural memory. To learn more about the effects of dopamine and its role in schizophrenia see: [[dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia]]. Studies using rats have shown that when rats are administered trace amounts of cocaine, their procedural memory systems are negatively impacted. Specifically, the rats are unable to effectively consolidate motor-skill learning.<ref>Willuhn I, Steiner H. (2008) Motor-skill learning in a novel running-wheel task is dependent on D1 dopamine receptors in the striatum. ''Neuroscience'', 22 April; 153 (1); 249-58. Epub 2008 Feb 6.</ref> With cocaine abuse being associated with poor procedural learning, research has shown that abstinence from cocaine is associated with sustained improvement of motor-skill learning (Wilfred et al.).
===Psychostimulants===
{{further|topic=psychostimulants|Psychostimulant}}
Most [[psychostimulant]]s work by activating dopamine receptors causing increased focus or pleasure. The usage of psychostimulants has become more widespread in the medical world for treating conditions like [[ADHD]]. Psychostimulants have been shown to be used more frequently today amongst students and other social demographics as a means to study more efficiently or have been abused for their pleasurable side effects.<ref>McCabe, S. E., Knight, J. R., Teter, C. J., Wechsler, H. (2004). Non-medical use of prescription stimulants among US
college students: prevalence and correlates from anational survey. Research Report.</ref> Research suggests that when not abused, psychostimulants aid in the acquisition of procedural learning. Studies have shown that psychostimulants like [[d-amphetamine]] facilitates lower response times and increased procedural learning when compared to control participants and participants who have been administered the [[antipsychotics|antipsychotic]] [[haloperidol]] on procedural learning tasks.<ref>Kumari, V., Gray, J.A., Corr, P.J., Mulligan, O.F., Cotter, P.A., Checkley, S.A. (1997). Effects of acute administration of d-amphetamine and haloperidol on procedural learning in man. ''Journal of Psychopharmacology'' 129(3); 271–276</ref> While improvements in procedural memory were evident when participants were administered traces of psychostimulants, many researchers have found that procedural memory is hampered when psychostimulants are abused.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Toomey | first1 = R. | last2 = Lyons | first2 = M. J. | last3 = Eisen | first3 = S. A. | last4 = Xian | first4 = Hong | last5 = Chantarujikapong | first5 = Sunanta | last6 = Seidman | first6 = L. J. | last7 = Faraone | first7 = S. | last8 = Tsuang | first8 = M. T. | year = 2003 | title = A Twin Study of the Neuropsychological Consequences of Stimulant Abuse | journal = Arch Gen Psychiatry | volume = 60 | issue = 3| pages = 303–310 | doi=10.1001/archpsyc.60.3.303| pmid = 12622664 | doi-access =
==Sleep==
Practice is clearly an important process for learning and perfecting a new skill. With over 40 years of research, it is well established in both humans and animals that the formation of all forms of memory are greatly enhanced during the brain-state of sleep. Furthermore, with humans, sleep has been consistently shown to aid in the development of procedural knowledge by the ongoing process of memory consolidation, especially when sleep soon follows the initial phase of memory acquisition.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Karni | first1 = A. | last2 = Tanne | first2 = D. | last3 = Rubenstein | first3 = B.S. | last4 = Askenasy | first4 = J.J. | last5 = Sagi | first5 = D. | year = 1994 | title = Dependence on REM sleep of overnight improvement of a perceptual skill | journal = Science | volume = 265 | issue = 5172| pages = 679–682 | doi=10.1126/science.8036518| pmid = 8036518 | bibcode = 1994Sci...265..679K }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gais | first1 = S. | last2 = Plihal | first2 = W. | last3 = Wagner | first3 = U. | last4 = Born | first4 = J. | year = 2000 | title = Early sleep triggers memory for early visual discrimination skills | journal = Nat. Neurosci. | volume = 3 | issue = 12| pages = 1335–1339 | doi=10.1038/81881| pmid = 11100156 | s2cid = 2075857 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Stickgold | first1 = R. | last2 = James | first2 = L. | last3 = Hobson | first3 = J.A. | year = 2000a | title = Visual discrimination learning requires sleep after training | journal = Nat. Neurosci. | volume = 3 | issue = 12| pages = 1237–1238 | doi=10.1038/81756| pmid = 11100141 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Stickgold | first1 = R. | last2 = Whidbee | first2 = D. | last3 = Schirmer | first3 = B. | last4 = Patel | first4 = V. | last5 = Hobson | first5 = J.A. | year = 2000b | title = Visual discrimination task improvement: A multi-step process occurring during sleep
Whether a skill is learned explicitly (with [[attention]]) or implicitly, each plays a role in the offline consolidation effect. Research suggests that explicit awareness and understanding of the skill being learned during the acquisition process greatly improves the consolidation of procedural memories during sleep.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Robertson | first1 = E.M. | display-authors = etal | year = 2004 | title = Awareness modifies skill-learning benefits of sleep | journal = Curr. Biol. | volume = 14 | issue = 3| pages = 208–212 | doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(04)00039-9| pmid = 14761652 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This finding is not surprising, as it is widely accepted that intention and awareness at time of learning enhances the acquisition of most forms of memory.
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