# When someone learns a motor skill, which part of the brain (or limb) is actually improving?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 30, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760 "2020-11-30T03:46:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760/1 "2020-11-30T03:46:26Z")

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Say someone has never played piano at all before, but then after a decade of lessons can now play Rachmaninoff’s Third with the best of them.

Which part exactly of the body changed and improved? Did the fingers actually become physically more limber? Or was it all about rewiring some circuitry in the brains?

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**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760/2 "2020-11-30T13:49:48Z")

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Fine motor control learning is done in the cerebellum.

> **[The Location and Function of the Cerebellum in the Brain](https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-cerebellum-2794964#)**
>
> The cerebellum is the part of the brain responsible for coordinating motor movements including balance and motor learning. Learn about its functions.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760/3 "2020-11-30T14:13:46Z")

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Hence the fiction of “muscle memory.”

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-learns-a-motor-skill-which-part-of-the-brain-or-limb-is-actually-improving/926760/4 "2020-11-30T14:32:29Z")

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> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Hence the fiction of “muscle memory.”

Destin Sandlin’s “Backwards Bicycle” shows this. Conventional bicycle, except with reversed steering functionality. Exact same muscles are used as for a fully conventional bike, but with practice, he eventually learns to ride it:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MFzDaBzBlL0/maxresdefault.jpg "The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0)