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James Ashe, M.D. Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology E-mail: ashe@umn.edu

Research Interests:

The primary interest of my laboratory is in motor learning in the most general sense.  We are concerned with how we learn regularities in our immediate environment and how this learning is reflected in our actions and behavior.  To address these issues, we use psychophysical studies, functional imaging in humans, and direct neural recording from areas in frontal cortex in non-human primates.

Specific Projects:
(1) Motor learning of new dynamic environments.  We have been examining the neural control of adaptation and learning in specific physical environments, usually in the form of state dependent force fields. The work focuses on the learning, storage, and consolidation of and interference with internal models of motor behavior.   

(2) Neural basis and mechanisms of motor learning in probabilistic environments.  We examine how subjects use probabilistic information and predictability in their immediate environment to shape their actions and behavior.  The learning behaviors we study range from complex probabilistic patterns to deterministic sequences.

(3) Neural control and learning of serial order.  The concept of serial order is fundamental to much of our behavior from basic motor function to language production. We have examined the neural basis of serial order and sequence production in well practiced motor behaviors and also during the learning of these behaviors through trial and error.

(4) The modulation of action through reward. Much of our behavior is shaped by rewards (both external and internal); we have recently begun to examine how reward (and punishment) influences motor learning.  Disruption of the reward-action system may be a fundamental problem in some disease conditions such as Parkinsons disease.

(5) Neural control of goals versus actions.  In everyday life, we typically decide on goals and then perform the actions to achieve them.  We are now studying the system in prefrontal cortex that deals with goals and actions in an effort to understand how these interrelated  factors are controlled. 

Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

Keisler A, Ashe J, Willingham DT. Time of day accounts for overnight improvement in sequence learning. Learn Mem. 2007 Oct 1;14(10):669-72.

Lungu OV, Liu T, Waechter T, Willingham DT, Ashe J. Strategic modulation of cognitive control. J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Aug;19(8):1302-15.

Knee R, Thomason S, Ashe J, Willingham DT. The representation of explicit motor sequence knowledge. Mem Cognit. 2007 Mar;35(2):326-33.

Chafee MV, Ashe J. Intelligence in action. Nat Neurosci. 2007 Feb;10(2):142-3.

Liu T, Lungu OV, Waechter T, Willingham DT, Ashe J. Frames of reference during implicit and explicit learning. Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jan 26.

Bares M, Lungu O, Liu T, Waechter T, Gomez CM, Ashe J. Impaired predictive motor timing in patients with cerebellar disorders. Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jan 26.

Seidler RD, Tuite P, Ashe J. Selective impairments in implicit learning in Parkinson's disease. Brain Res. 2006 Dec 23.

Gupta R, Ashe J. Lack of adaptation to random conflicting force fields of variable magnitude. J Neurophysiol. 2007 Jan;97(1):738-45.

Recent Graduate Students:

Alexandra Basford (Ph.D. 2008, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).