Influence of Arousal on Motor Learning, Memory and Motor Imagery Ability in Young Population
Condition: Arousal
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      In motor learning is essential to consider that movements are produced by the cooperation and
      combination of many brain structures and are influenced by the emotions to which individuals
      are subjected. Several neural circuits have been identified that closely link the emotional
      system and the motion control system.

      Arousal is associated with many emotional responses and has effects on the nervous and motor
      system. In line with the "Inverted 'U' Hypothesis", all levels of both high and low arousal
      do not allow optimal task performance, yet moderate levels lead to excellent performance.
      Arousal also plays a vital role in movement learning, where a critical element is memory.
      There is evidence that a minimum level of arousal is required to encode or record information
      and that that moderate levels of arousal improve memory.

      Understanding how movement, emotions and interactions are regulated is significant because of
      the large number of movements humans perform. Of these, manual tasks represent precise
      movements that require the integration of many elements by the nervous system to perform
      these tasks successfully. How different levels of arousal influence the way manual tasks are
      learned is still unknown.

      On the other hand, motor imagery (MI) is a cognitive process that is an important contributor
      to how movements are planned and executed. The use of MI has been recommended to improve
      movement learning and task execution. For an effective and individualize MI program is
      imperative to know this capacity. However, how different levels of arousal can affect our
      motor imagery ability is also still unknown.

      The main objective of this study is to determine and quantify the effects of arousal levels
      in the learning of a precise manual task not previously trained on four parameters of fine
      motor control: time, error, speed, and accuracy. On the other hand, the aim is to determine
      if the ability of internal visual, external visual, and kinaesthetic imagery varies when
      participants are subjected to different levels of arousal.

      Researches expect that non-anxious, non-stressed participants who are shown images that
      elicit an optimal level of arousal will show better motor performance on the fine motor task
      and better motor imagery ability. In contrast, researches expect that participants without
      anxiety and stress who are shown pictures that elicit a sub-optimal level of arousal will
      show poorer motor performance on the fine motor task and poorer motor imagery ability.
    

Detailed description: 
      In order to meet the study objectives of determining and quantifying the effects of arousal
      levels on learning a precise manual task and on motor imagery ability, this study will be
      conducted. The development of the study will take place in a conditioned room belonging to
      the University of Alcala, the Complutense University of Madrid, or the European University of
      Madrid. The study may also be carried out in other Spanish and international university
      centers, subject to the consent and permission of the respective centres. The study will be
      carried out by all national and international laws, regulations, and recommendations.

      The study design will be longitudinal, experimental, randomized, and double-blind, as
      specified in the present registry.

      The study population will be composed of participants who are undergraduate and postgraduate
      students at the university centers where the study will be carried out, from which the
      participants will be recruited. All participants included in the study must meet the study
      selection criteria and participate voluntarily after reading the information sheet and
      signing the informed consent form.

      The study will consist of three intervention groups, in which low, medium, or high arousal
      will be induced, respectively. Each group will consist of a minimum number of 30 subjects to
      be able to study the desired effect.

      After each participant freely chooses to participate in the study, an initial questionnaire
      will be administered to ensure that each participant meet the criteria for inclusion in the
      study. At this point, the participant will be coded and assigned a number, which will serve
      as identification throughout the study. Participants will take the State-Trait Anxiety
      Inventory (STAI), one of the most widely used instruments for the self-reported assessment of
      anxiety and equivalent to a measure of stress, as it considers the amount of stressful
      stimulus. Thus, the two components of anxiety will be assessed: state anxiety and trait
      anxiety. Participants with scores indicative of state or trait anxiety will be excluded from
      the study, and those with scores indicating neither trait anxiety nor state anxiety will be
      included. Included participants will be randomized through sealed envelopes stratified by
      gender to one of three experimental groups: low arousal, medium arousal, and high arousal.
      Participants will also take the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-3 (MIQ-3) to measure internal
      visual, external visual, kinaesthetic imagery ability, and the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory
      (EHI) to determine the participant's laterality. Depending on the group to which participants
      have been assigned, participants will be visualize a series of International Affective
      Picture System (IAPS) images that will induce the different states of arousal. The IAPS is
      one of the most widely used standardized emotion-eliciting stimulus sets in experimental
      research and has been shown to produce reliable and measurable changes in all three emotional
      response systems in the study population of this study: subjective-verbal, behavioral and
      physiological. After visualizing the images, participants will learn a precise manual task
      with the non-dominant hand. The task will consist of going over a 127 mm circumference on a
      graphics tablet at a rate of 2 seconds per lap, which will be set by a metronome using a
      wireless pen that will leave no trace of ink but will store the data in the MATLAB program
      via the graphics tablet. Thus, data from the learning process and short-term memory of the
      task will be recorded. Afterward, there will be a 20-minute break during which participants
      will perform the MIQ-3 again. Finally, the task data will be collected to record the
      long-term memory of the manual task.

      In addition, during all experiments, electrodermal activity and heart rate variability will
      be recorded using the Empatica E4 physiological variable measurement wristband. This
      measurement of physiological variables will serve to confirm that a significant emotional
      effect has been generated and to test motor imagery processes since both arousal and motor
      imagery produce activation of the autonomic nervous system.

      The analysis and processing of data from MATLAB version R2020b, and the Empatica E4 wristband
      will be performed using SPSS 25.0 statistical software and Kubios HRV software (for HRV
      analysis).

      First, appropriate statistical analyses will be performed to see if the data are distributed
      according to a standard curve through the Shapiro-Wilk test and to assess the influence of
      sex and age.

      Subsequently, the descriptive analysis of the relative and absolute frequencies for the
      qualitative variables of gender and age will be carried out, and their homogeneity will be
      tested using the Chi-square test. The descriptive analysis of the quantitative variables of
      time, error, speed, accuracy, electrodermal activity, heart rate variability, and
      kinaesthetic, internal visual, and external visual imagery will also be carried out. If the
      variable conforms to the normal, the mean, range, and standard deviation shall be calculated.
      If the variables do not conform to normality, non-parametric tests will be performed.

      Comparative analysis will be performed using mixed ANOVA to see the differences in the mean
      values respective to motor control (time, error, speed, and accuracy), and the differences
      between the first and last lap and between consecutive laps of the task in the same four
      parameters, both in the task performed in the short term and the long term. A further ANOVA
      analysis will take place for imagery ability, comparing the results obtained at the two
      respective points during the experiment.

      The effect of learning between laps will be analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA comparing
      each motor control measurement parameter with respect to the lapping factor. Electrodermal
      activity, and heart rate variability during the measurement of imagery ability, emotional
      state induction, manual task learning, and its maintenance in the short and long term will
      also be studied by repeated-measures ANOVA.

      For hypothesis testing, a significance level of 0.05 will be set.
    

Intervention name(s): Low Arousal; Medium arousal; High arousal
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): This group will see affective images of the International Affective Picture System with low arousal level; This group will see affective images of the International Affective Picture System with medium arousal level; This group will see affective images of the International Affective Picture System with high arousal level
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: As participants complete the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and are found to be free of trait anxiety, and state anxiety, they will be randomised in parallel to one of the three intervention groups.
Masking: Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Arousal; Motor Learning; Memory; Motor Imagery Ability