Direct-effects and after-effects of visuomotor adaptation with one arm on subsequent performance with the other arm

Adapting to a novel sensorimotor condition is generally thought to result in the formation of an internal representation associated with the novel sensorimotor transform. While the presence of after-effects following sensorimotor adaptation is taken as evidence that such an internal representation was developed as a result of adaptation, it remains unclear whether the absence of after-effects following sensorimotor adaptation indicates that no internal representation was developed. In the present study, we examined this question by having individuals adapt to a 30° visual rotation with one arm first and testing 1) how the initial adaptation would influence subsequent performance with the other arm under the same visual condition (called direct-effects) or under a normal visual condition (called after-effects); or 2) how the initial adaptation that occurred at one workspace location would influence subsequent performance at another location with the same arm under the same or a normal visual condition. Results indicated that initial adaptation with one arm significantly influenced subsequent performance with the other in terms of direct- but not after-effects and that initial adaptation at one workspace location significantly influenced subsequent performance at a new location with the same arm in terms of both direct- and after-effects, but to different extents. These findings indicate that formation of a neural representation associated with a novel visuomotor transform does not always result in after-effects and suggest that visuomotor adaptation may involve multiple aspects of a neural representation, some of which are effector independent and some of which are effector dependent.