scholarly journals Neural Suppression Elicited During Motor Imagery Following the Observation of Biological Motion From Point-Light Walker Stimuli

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Grazia ◽  
Michael Wimmer ◽  
Gernot R. Müller-Putz ◽  
Selina C. Wriessnegger
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Biological Motion ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Point Light

Introduction: Advantageous effects of biological motion (BM) detection, a low-perceptual mechanism that allows the rapid recognition and understanding of spatiotemporal characteristics of movement via salient kinematics information, can be amplified when combined with motor imagery (MI), i.e., the mental simulation of motor acts. According to Jeannerod’s neurostimulation theory, asynchronous firing and reduction of mu and beta rhythm oscillations, referred to as suppression over the sensorimotor area, are sensitive to both MI and action observation (AO) of BM. Yet, not many studies investigated the use of BM stimuli using combined AO-MI tasks. In this study, we assessed the neural response in the form of event-related synchronization and desynchronization (ERD/S) patterns following the observation of point-light-walkers and concordant MI, as compared to MI alone.Methods: Twenty right-handed healthy participants accomplished the experimental task by observing BM stimuli and subsequently performing the same movement using kinesthetic MI (walking, cycling, and jumping conditions). We recorded an electroencephalogram (EEG) with 32 channels and performed time-frequency analysis on alpha (8–13 Hz) and beta (18–24 Hz) frequency bands during the MI task. A two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was performed to test statistical significance among conditions and electrodes of interest.Results: The results revealed significant ERD/S patterns in the alpha frequency band between conditions and electrode positions. Post hoc comparisons showed significant differences between condition 1 (walking) and condition 3 (jumping) over the left primary motor cortex. For the beta band, a significantly less difference in ERD patterns (p < 0.01) was detected only between condition 3 (jumping) and condition 4 (reference).Discussion: Our results confirmed that the observation of BM combined with MI elicits a neural suppression, although just in the case of jumping. This is in line with previous findings of AO and MI (AOMI) eliciting a neural suppression for simulated whole-body movements. In the last years, increasing evidence started to support the integration of AOMI training as an adjuvant neurorehabilitation tool in Parkinson’s disease (PD).Conclusion: We concluded that using BM stimuli in AOMI training could be promising, as it promotes attention to kinematic features and imitative motor learning.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Cortical and Subcortical Activities during Observation and Motor Imagery of Dynamic Postural Tasks: An fMRI Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mouthon ◽  
J. Ruffieux ◽  
M. Mouthon ◽  
H.-M. Hoogewoud ◽  
J.-M. Annoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Balance Control ◽  
Dynamic Balance ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Internal Representation ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Visual Input ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Postural Tasks

Age-related changes in brain activation other than in the primary motor cortex are not well known with respect to dynamic balance control. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore age-related differences in the control of static and dynamic postural tasks using fMRI during mental simulation of balance tasks. For this purpose, 16 elderly (72 ± 5 years) and 16 young adults (27 ± 5 years) were asked to mentally simulate a static and a dynamic balance task by motor imagery (MI), action observation (AO), or the combination of AO and MI (AO + MI). Age-related differences were detected in the form of larger brain activations in elderly compared to young participants, especially in the challenging dynamic task when applying AO + MI. Interestingly, when MI (no visual input) was contrasted to AO (visual input), elderly participants revealed deactivation of subcortical areas. The finding that the elderly demonstrated overactivation in mostly cortical areas in challenging postural conditions with visual input (AO + MI and AO) but deactivation in subcortical areas during MI (no vision) may indicate that elderly individuals allocate more cortical resources to the internal representation of dynamic postural tasks. Furthermore, it might be assumed that they depend more strongly on visual input to activate subcortical internal representations.

Experience Influences Brain Mechanisms of Watching Dance

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (supplement) ◽  
pp. 352-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seon Hee Jang ◽  
Frank E Pollick
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Brain Area ◽  
Retrosplenial Cortex ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
Action Observation Network ◽  
Viewing Experience

The study of dance has been helpful to advance our understanding of how human brain networks of action observation are influenced by experience. However previous studies have not examined the effect of extensive visual experience alone: for example, an art critic or dance fan who has a rich experience of watching dance but negligible experience performing dance. To explore the effect of pure visual experience we performed a single experiment using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to compare the neural processing of dance actions in 3 groups: a) 14 ballet dancers, b) 10 experienced viewers, c) 12 novices without any extensive dance or viewing experience. Each of the 36 participants viewed short 2-second displays of ballet derived from motion capture of a professional ballerina. These displays represented the ballerina as only points of light at the major joints. We wished to study the action observation network broadly and thus included two different types of display and two different tasks for participants to perform. The two different displays were: a) brief movies of a ballet action and b) frames from the ballet movies with the points of lights connected by lines to show a ballet posture. The two different tasks were: a) passively observe the display and b) imagine performing the action depicted in the display. The two levels of display and task were combined factorially to produce four experimental conditions (observe movie, observe posture, motor imagery of movie, motor imagery of posture). The set of stimuli used in the experiment are available for download after this paper. A random effects ANOVA was performed on brain activity and an effect of experience was obtained in seven different brain areas including: right Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ), left Retrosplenial Cortex (RSC), right Primary Somatosensory Cortex (S1), bilateral Primary Motor Cortex (M1), right Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC), right Temporal Pole (TP). The patterns of activation were plotted in each of these areas (TPJ, RSC, S1, M1, OFC, TP) to investigate more closely how the effect of experience changed across these areas. For this analysis, novices were treated as baseline and the relative effect of experience examined in the dancer and experienced viewer groups. Interpretation of these results suggests that both visual and motor experience appear equivalent in producing more extensive early processing of dance actions in early stages of representation (TPJ and RSC) and we hypothesise that this could be due to the involvement of autobiographical memory processes. The pattern of results found for dancers in S1 and M1 suggest that their perception of dance actions are enhanced by embodied processes. For example, the S1 results are consistent with claims that this brain area shows mirror properties. The pattern of results found for the experienced viewers in OFC and TP suggests that their perception of dance actions are enhanced by cognitive processes. For example, involving aspects of social cognition and hedonic processing – the experienced viewers find the motor imagery task more pleasant and have richer connections of dance to social memory. While aspects of our interpretation are speculative the core results clearly show common and distinct aspects of how viewing experience and physical experience shape brain responses to watching dance.

scholarly journals Motor Cortical Activity during Observing a Video of Real Hand Movements versus Computer Graphic Hand Movements: An MEG Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Yu-Wei Hsieh ◽  
Meng-Ta Lee ◽  
Yu-Hsuan Lin ◽  
Li-Ling Chuang ◽  
Chih-Chi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Computer Graphic ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Real Hand

Both action observation (AO) and virtual reality (VR) provide visual stimuli to trigger brain activations during the observation of actions. However, the mechanism of observing video movements performed by a person’s real hand versus that performed by a computer graphic hand remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the differences in observing the video of real versus computer graphic hand movements on primary motor cortex (M1) activation by magnetoencephalography. Twenty healthy adults completed 3 experimental conditions: the resting state, the video of real hand movements (VRH), and the video of computer graphic hand movements (CGH) conditions with the intermittent electrical stimuli simultaneously applied to the median nerve by an electrical stimulator. The beta oscillatory activity (~20 Hz) in the M1 was collected, lower values indicating greater activations. To compare the beta oscillatory activities among the 3 conditions, the Friedman test with Bonferroni correction (p-value < 0.017 indicating statistical significance) were used. The beta oscillatory activities of the VRH and CGH conditions were significantly lower than that of the resting state condition. No significant difference in the beta oscillatory activity was found between the VRH and CGH conditions. Observing hand movements in a video performed by a real hand and those by a computer graphic hand evoked comparable M1 activations in healthy adults. This study provides some neuroimaging support for the use of AO and VR in rehabilitation, but no differential activations were found.

scholarly journals Unravelling the modulation of intracortical inhibition during motor imagery: An adaptive threshold-hunting study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécilia Neige ◽  
Dylan Rannaud Monany ◽  
Cathy M. Stinear ◽  
Winston D. Byblow ◽  
Charalambos Papaxanthis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Short Interval ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
Adaptive Threshold ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
The Right

AbstractMotor imagery (MI) is the mental simulation of an action without any apparent muscular contraction. By means of transcranial magnetic stimulation, few studies revealed a decrease of short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) within the primary motor cortex. However, this decrease is ambiguous, as one would expect greater inhibition during MI to prevent overt motor output. The current study investigated the extent of SICI modulation during MI through a methodological and a conceptual reconsideration of i) the importance of parameters to assess SICI (Exp.1) and ii) the inhibitory process within the primary motor cortex as an inherent feature of MI (Exp.2). Participants performed two tasks: 1) rest and 2) imagery of isometric abduction of the right index finger. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation, motor evoked potentials were elicited in the right first dorsal interosseous muscle. An adaptive threshold-hunting paradigm was used, where the stimulus intensity required to maintain a fixed motor evoked potential amplitude was quantified. To test SICI, we conditioned the test stimulus with a conditioning stimulus (CS) of different intensities. Results revealed an Intensity by Task interaction showing that SICI decreased during MI as compared to rest only for the higher CS intensity (Exp.1). At the lowest CS intensities, a Task main effect revealed that SICI increased during MI (Exp.2). SICI modulation during MI depends critically on the CS intensity. By optimising CS intensity, we have shown that SICI circuits may increase during MI, revealing a potential mechanism to prevent the production of a movement while the motor system is activated.HighlightsExcitatory and inhibitory neural processes interact during motor imagery, as the motor regions are activated but no movement is produced.The current study investigated the extent of short interval intracortical inhibition modulation (SICI) during motor imagery.When using optimal settings, SICI increased during motor imagery, likely to prevent the production of an overt movement.

Effect of tactile stimulation on primary motor cortex excitability during action observation combined with motor imagery

2015 ◽  
Vol 600 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megumi Tanaka ◽  
Shinji Kubota ◽  
Yusuke Onmyoji ◽  
Masato Hirano ◽  
Kazumasa Uehara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Tactile Stimulation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Motor Cortex Excitability

scholarly journals Dopaminergic drugs alter beta coherence during motor imagery and motor execution in healthy adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-205
Author(s):  
Danielle APRIGIO ◽  
Guaraci Ken TANAKA ◽  
Juliana BITTENCOURT ◽  
Mariana GONGORA ◽  
Silmar TEIXEIRA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Dopaminergic Drugs ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
The Moment

Abstract Background: Motor Imagery (MI) represents the cognitive component of the movement and recruits dopaminergic systems. Objective: To investigate the role of dopaminergic system through the action of methylphenidate and risperidone over beta coherence during execution, action observation and motor imagery. Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded before and after the substance intake. For statistical analysis, a three-way ANOVA was used to identify changes in beta coherence induced by the group, task and the moment variables. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.007. Results: We found a main effect for group for C3/CZ, and a main effect for task for CZ/C4 pairs of electrodes. Furthermore, significant differences were found in the post-drug administration between groups for C3/CZ pair of electrodes, and between task for C4/CZ pair of electrodes. Conclusion: The administration of methylphenidate and risperidone was able to produce electrocortical changes of the cortical central regions, even when featuring antagonistic effects on the dopaminergic pathways. Moreover, the execution task allowed beta-band modulation increase.

scholarly journals Differential Influence of the Dorsal Premotor and Primary Somatosensory Cortex on Corticospinal Excitability during Kinesthetic and Visual Motor Imagery: A Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1196
Author(s):  
Viola Oldrati ◽  
Alessandra Finisguerra ◽  
Alessio Avenanti ◽  
Salvatore Maria Aglioti ◽  
Cosimo Urgesi
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Primary Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Visual Motor

Consistent evidence suggests that motor imagery involves the activation of several sensorimotor areas also involved during action execution, including the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) and the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). However, it is still unclear whether their involvement is specific for either kinesthetic or visual imagery or whether they contribute to motor activation for both modalities. Although sensorial experience during motor imagery is often multimodal, identifying the modality exerting greater facilitation of the motor system may allow optimizing the functional outcomes of rehabilitation interventions. In a sample of healthy adults, we combined 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to suppress neural activity of the dPMC, S1, and primary motor cortex (M1) with single-pulse TMS over M1 for measuring cortico-spinal excitability (CSE) during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery of finger movements as compared to static imagery conditions. We found that rTMS over both dPMC and S1, but not over M1, modulates the muscle-specific facilitation of CSE during kinesthetic but not during visual motor imagery. Furthermore, dPMC rTMS suppressed the facilitation of CSE, whereas S1 rTMS boosted it. The results highlight the differential pattern of cortico-cortical connectivity within the sensorimotor system during the mental simulation of the kinesthetic and visual consequences of actions.

scholarly journals Neural Dissociations between Action Verb Understanding and Motor Imagery

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 2387-2400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roel M. Willems ◽  
Ivan Toni ◽  
Peter Hagoort ◽  
Daniel Casasanto
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Cortical Motor ◽  
Motor Representations ◽  
Action Verbs

According to embodied theories of language, people understand a verb like throw, at least in part, by mentally simulating throwing. This implicit simulation is often assumed to be similar or identical to motor imagery. Here we used fMRI to test whether implicit simulations of actions during language understanding involve the same cortical motor regions as explicit motor imagery. Healthy participants were presented with verbs related to hand actions (e.g., to throw) and nonmanual actions (e.g., to kneel). They either read these verbs (lexical decision task) or actively imagined performing the actions named by the verbs (imagery task). Primary motor cortex showed effector-specific activation during imagery, but not during lexical decision. Parts of premotor cortex distinguished manual from nonmanual actions during both lexical decision and imagery, but there was no overlap or correlation between regions activated during the two tasks. These dissociations suggest that implicit simulation and explicit imagery cued by action verbs may involve different types of motor representations and that the construct of “mental simulation” should be distinguished from “mental imagery” in embodied theories of language.

Perceiving Biological Motion: Dissociating Visible Speech from Walking

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 800-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Santi ◽  
Philip Servos ◽  
Eric Vatikiotis-Bateson ◽  
Takaaki Kuratate ◽  
Kevin Munhall
Keyword(s):  
Biological Motion ◽  
Neural System ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Visible Speech ◽  
The Face ◽  
Static Images ◽  
Middle Occipital Gyrus ◽  
Point Light ◽  
The Right ◽  
Contrast Perception

Neuropsychological research suggests that the neural system underlying visible speech on the basis of kinematics is distinct from the system underlying visible speech of static images of the face and identifying whole-body actions from kinematics alone. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify the neural systems underlying point-light visible speech, as well as perception of a walking/jumping point-light body, to determine if they are independent. Although both point-light stimuli produced overlapping activation in the right middle occipital gyrus encompassing area KO and the right inferior temporal gyrus, they also activated distinct areas. Perception of walking biological motion activated a medial occipital area along the lingual gyrus close to the cuneus border, and the ventromedial frontal cortex, neither of which was activated by visible speech biological motion. In contrast, perception of visible speech biological motion activated right V5 and a network of motor-related areas (Broca's area, PM, M1, and supplementary motor area (SMA)), none of which were activated by walking biological motion. Many of the areas activated by seeing visible speech biological motion are similar to those activated while speechreading from an actual face, with the exception of M1 and medial SMA. The motor-related areas found to be active during point-light visible speech are consistent with recent work characterizing the human “mirror” system (Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese, & Fogassi, 1996).

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