Frequent feedback enhances complex motor skill learning.

Feedback frequency effects on the learning of a complex motor skill, the production of slalom-type movements on a ski-simulator, were examined. In Experiment 1, a movement feature that characterizes expert performance was identified. Participants (N = 8) practiced the task for 6 days. Significant changes across practice were found for movement amplitude and relative force onset. Relative force onset is considered a measure of movement efficiency; relatively late force onsets characterize expert performance. In Experiment 2, different groups of participants (N = 27) were given concurrent feedback about force onset on either 100% or 50% of the practice trials; a control group was given no feedback. The following hypothesis was tested: Contrary to previous findings concerning relatively simple tasks, for the learning of a complex task such as the one used here, a high relative feedback frequency (100%) is more beneficial for learning than a reduced feedback frequency (50%). Participants practiced the task on 2 consecutive days and performed a retention test without feedback on Day 3. The 100% feedback group demonstrated later relative force onsets than the control group in retention; the 50% feedback group showed intermediate performance. The results provide support for the notion that high feedback frequencies are beneficial for the learning of complex motor skills, at least until a certain level of expertise is achieved. That finding suggests that there may be an interaction between task difficulty and feedback frequency similar to the interaction found in the summary-KR literature.

Influence of ion pairing on ex vivo penetration of erythromycin into sebaceous follicles.

Microorganisms play an important role in the pathomechanism of acne vulgaris which is treated with antibiotics, particulary erythromycin (ERY). The main problem in the topical use of ERY lies in achieving sufficient penetration of the drug into sebaceous follicles. Doubly enhanced penetration of an ion pair composed of ERY and octadecansulfonate (OS) in contrast to the commonly used ERY base was observed, using a multilayer membrane model (MMM). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the results obtained on the MMM using excised human skin. The amount of ERY penetrating into sebaceous follicles of freshly excised human skin was measured using [N-methyl-14C]erythromycin. The ex vivo penetration of the ion pair ERY/OS into the sebaceous follicles was observed to be doubly enhanced compared with the penetration of the ERY base. The model was shown to be suitable for predicting in vivo penetration of anti-acne formulations into sebaceous glands.

Optimization of topical erythromycin formulations by ion pairing.

Erythromycin (ERY) is used in the topical treatment of acne vulgaris. In order to decrease the amount of microorganisms markedly, the antibiotic must penetrate into the sebaceous follicles. Firstly, the aim of this study was to improve the lipophilicity of ERY by ion pairing. Secondly, a formulation with optimized penetration of the ion pair was developed. Thirdly, the optimized formulation was compared with formulations containing ethanol and with the commercial product Zineryt. The determination of lipophilicity was based on partition coefficients (PC) and on the penetration of ERY into a modified multilayer membrane system (MMS). It was shown that the penetration of ERY into a lipophilic acceptor system was three times higher when ion pairing between ERY and octadecansulfonate was used in comparison with the penetration of the ERY base alone. The dosage of the antibiotic used can be markedly reduced by optimizing a vehicle for the ion pair.