Table 1.

Characteristics of Novice and Skilled Motor Actions

Novice Movement	Skilled Movement
Peripheral factors
Multiple muscles activated in a prolonged cocontraction pattern	Multiple muscles activated sequentially in brief bursts
Variable movement sequence	Preplanned motor sequence
Movement subsegments, with stops and starts that redirect to the movement target	Movement acceleration and deceleration is smooth and programmed together
Guided, discontinuous movement with an irregular velocity profile	Nonguided, continuous movement with a smooth velocity profile
Task-oriented practice is needed to acquire a new motor sequence	Practice necessary is needed to maintain motor expertise and automaticity
Central factors
Brain activity in a frontoparietal (cortico-cortico) circuits	Brain activity in cortico-basal ganglia, cortico-cerebellar circuits
Sustained, generalized pattern of brain activity	Brief, specific “efficient” pattern of brain activity
High cingulate motor area activity	Reduced cingulate motor area activity