{
  "id": 9557577,
  "title": "Task-Relevant Cognitive Load Modulates Fast and Slow Processes Underlying Motor Adaptation",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/task-relevant-cognitive-load-modulates-fast-and-slow-processes",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-24T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752503v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The study investigates how cognitive control affects the correction of motor errors. Researchers explored the influence of cognitive load on the slow and fast processes that make up motor adaptation. Instead of using traditional dual-task experiments where attention was reduced, the current approach manipulated cognitive load through a decision-making task, with varying difficulty levels, while participants adapted to a perturbation and maintained focus on the task.\n\nThe findings reveal that the hard decision-making task increased cognitive load compared to the easy task, leading to diminished steady-state learning. By employing a dual state-space model, the study further determined that the fast component was more pronounced under the high-load condition, whereas the slow component was more prominent under the low-load condition. This observation aligns with a competition model, where a shared error signal is divided between the two processes.\n\nNotably, the effect of cognitive load on fast processes was not linked to increased reaction times or task performance. The results collectively support the idea that faster explicit motor adaptation processes originate from cognitive processes involved in action selection.",
  "summary": "How cognitive control influences the correction of motor errors is an important question. In this study, we examined how the slow and fast processes that constitute motor adaptation are modulated by cognitive load. To address this question, we used a novel approach that differed from traditional dual-task experiments that have assessed the role of fast processes by decreasing attention to the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}