BASELINE NEUROCOGNITIVE PROFILES DIFFERENTIALLY PREDICT MOTOR LEARNING DURING LAPAROSCOPIC TRAINING

Motor skill acquisition in laparoscopic surgery depends on complex interactions between cognitive control and motor learning, yet the extent to which baseline neurocognitive abilities shape learning trajectories remains unclear. Novice participants completed a 10-day structured laparoscopic training program involving pattern cutting, ligating loops, and appendectomy tasks. Learning was quantified as changes in task completion time and perceived cognitive workload (NASA-TLX) between mid-training and post-training, with more negative values indicating greater improvement. Baseline cognitive function was assessed on Day 1 using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Attention Network Test, and Mental Rotation (MR) task, and a composite baseline cognitive score was derived using z-standardisation. Training resulted in robust improvements in performance speed and reductions in cognitive workload across all tasks. However, baseline cognitive abilities showed task-specific associations with learning. Higher baseline executive function, indexed by WCST performance and the composite cognitive score, was significantly associated with greater learning in the ligating loop task, reflected by larger reductions in both completion time and workload. In contrast, no consistent associations were observed for pattern cutting or appendectomy tasks. In addition to motor learning, training was associated with significant improvements in MR and WCST scores and reductions in reaction times. These findings demonstrate that laparoscopic motor learning is differentially modulated by baseline neurocognitive profiles in a task-dependent manner, with executive control abilities playing a particularly important role in tasks with higher planning and rule-switching demands. Incorporating neurocognitive profiling into surgical training frameworks may support the development of individualised, brain-informed approaches to skill acquisition.