Mirror Visual Feedback Induces M1 Excitability by Disengaging Functional Connections of Perceptuo-Motor-Attentional Processes during Asynchronous Bimanual Movement: A Magnetoencephalographic Study

Mirror visual feedback (MVF) has been shown to increase the excitability of the primary motor cortex (M1) during asynchronous bimanual movement. However, the functional networks underlying this process remain unclear. We recruited 16 healthy volunteers to perform asynchronous bimanual movement, that is, their left hand performed partial range of movement while their right hand performed normal full range of movement. Their ongoing brain activities were recorded by whole-head magnetoencephalography during the movement. Participants were required to keep both hands stationary in the control condition. In the other two conditions, participants were required to perform asynchronous bimanual movement with MVF (Asy_M) and without MVF (Asy_w/oM). Greater M1 excitability was found under Asy_M than under Asy_w/oM. More importantly, when receiving MVF, the visual cortex reduced its functional connection to brain regions associated with perceptuo-motor-attentional process (i.e., M1, superior temporal gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). This is the first study to demonstrate a global functional network of MVF during asynchronous bimanual movement, providing a foundation for future research to examine the neural mechanisms of mirror illusion in motor control.

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Modulation of Functional Connectivity in Response to Mirror Visual Feedback in Stroke Survivors: An MEG Study

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11101284 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 1284

Author(s):

Ruei-Yi Tai ◽

Jun-Ding Zhu ◽

Chih-Chi Chen ◽

Yu-Wei Hsieh ◽

Chia-Hsiung Cheng

Keyword(s):

Functional Connectivity ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Beta Band ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Brain Areas ◽

Frequency Bands ◽

Mirror Visual Feedback

Background. Several brain regions are activated in response to mirror visual feedback (MVF). However, less is known about how these brain areas and their connectivity are modulated in stroke patients. This study aimed to explore the effects of MVF on brain functional connectivity in stroke patients. Materials and Methods. We enrolled 15 stroke patients who executed Bilateral-No mirror, Bilateral-Mirror, and Unilateral-Mirror conditions. The coherence values among five brain regions of interest in four different frequency bands were calculated from magnetoencephalographic signals. We examined the differences in functional connectivity of each two brain areas between the Bilateral-No mirror and Bilateral-Mirror conditions and between the Bilateral-Mirror and Unilateral-Mirror conditions. Results. The functional connectivity analyses revealed significantly stronger connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and primary motor cortex in the beta band (adjusted p = 0.04) and possibly stronger connectivity between the precuneus and primary visual cortex in the theta band (adjusted p = 0.08) in the Bilateral-Mirror condition than those in the Bilateral-No mirror condition. However, the comparisons between the Bilateral-Mirror and Unilateral-Mirror conditions revealed no significant differences in cortical coherence in all frequency bands. Conclusions. Providing MVF to stroke patients may modulate the lesioned primary motor cortex through visuospatial and attentional cortical networks.

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The Activation of the Mirror Neuron System during Action Observation and Action Execution with Mirror Visual Feedback in Stroke: A Systematic Review

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2018/2321045 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Jack J. Q. Zhang ◽

Kenneth N. K. Fong ◽

Nandana Welage ◽

Karen P. Y. Liu

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Mirror Neuron System ◽

Action Observation ◽

Mirror Neuron ◽

Action Execution ◽

Neuron System ◽

Mu Suppression ◽

Mirror Visual Feedback

Objective. To evaluate the concurrent and training effects of action observation (AO) and action execution with mirror visual feedback (MVF) on the activation of the mirror neuron system (MNS) and its relationship with the activation of the motor cortex in stroke individuals. Methods. A literature search using CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, and SCOPUS to find relevant studies was performed. Results. A total of 19 articles were included. Two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies reported that MVF could activate the ipsilesional primary motor cortex as well as the MNS in stroke individuals, whereas two other fMRI studies found that the MNS was not activated by MVF in stroke individuals. Two clinical trials reported that long-term action execution with MVF induced a shift of activation toward the ipsilesional hemisphere. Five fMRI studies showed that AO activated the MNS, of which, three found the activation of movement-related areas. Five electroencephalography (EEG) studies demonstrated that AO or MVF enhanced mu suppression over the sensorimotor cortex. Conclusions. MVF may contribute to stroke recovery by revising the interhemispheric imbalance caused by stroke due to the activation of the MNS. AO may also promote motor relearning in stroke individuals by activating the MNS and motor cortex.

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Recent Advances in the Understanding of Specific Efferent Pathways Emerging From the Cerebellum

Frontiers in Neuroanatomy ◽

10.3389/fnana.2021.759948 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Seulgi Kang ◽

Soyoung Jun ◽

Soo Ji Baek ◽

Heeyoun Park ◽

Yukio Yamamoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Future Research ◽

Motor Functions ◽

Brain Functions ◽

Technical Developments ◽

Gene Expression Analyses ◽

Cell Gene Expression ◽

Efferent Pathways ◽

Cell Gene

The cerebellum has a long history in terms of research on its network structures and motor functions, yet our understanding of them has further advanced in recent years owing to technical developments, such as viral tracers, optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulation, and single cell gene expression analyses. Specifically, it is now widely accepted that the cerebellum is also involved in non-motor functions, such as cognitive and psychological functions, mainly from studies that have clarified neuronal pathways from the cerebellum to other brain regions that are relevant to these functions. The techniques to manipulate specific neuronal pathways were effectively utilized to demonstrate the involvement of the cerebellum and its pathways in specific brain functions, without altering motor activity. In particular, the cerebellar efferent pathways that have recently gained attention are not only monosynaptic connections to other brain regions, including the periaqueductal gray and ventral tegmental area, but also polysynaptic connections to other brain regions, including the non-primary motor cortex and hippocampus. Besides these efferent pathways associated with non-motor functions, recent studies using sophisticated experimental techniques further characterized the historically studied efferent pathways that are primarily associated with motor functions. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, there are no articles that comprehensively describe various cerebellar efferent pathways, although there are many interesting review articles focusing on specific functions or pathways. Here, we summarize the recent findings on neuronal networks projecting from the cerebellum to several brain regions. We also introduce various techniques that have enabled us to advance our understanding of the cerebellar efferent pathways, and further discuss possible directions for future research regarding these efferent pathways and their functions.

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Habenula functional resting-state connectivity in pediatric CRPS

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00405.2013 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 111 (2) ◽

pp. 239-247 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Nathalie Erpelding ◽

Simona Sava ◽

Laura E. Simons ◽

Alyssa Lebel ◽

Paul Serrano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Resting State ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽

Dorsal Thalamus ◽

Functional Connections ◽

Midcingulate Cortex

The habenula (Hb) is a small brain structure located in the posterior end of the medial dorsal thalamus and through medial (MHb) and lateral (LHb) Hb connections, it acts as a conduit of information between forebrain and brainstem structures. The role of the Hb in pain processing is well documented in animals and recently also in acute experimental pain in humans. However, its function remains unknown in chronic pain disorders. Here, we investigated Hb resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) compared with healthy controls. Twelve pediatric patients with unilateral lower-extremity CRPS (9 females; 10–17 yr) and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls provided informed consent to participate in the study. In healthy controls, Hb functional connections largely overlapped with previously described anatomical connections in cortical, subcortical, and brainstem structures. Compared with controls, patients exhibited an overall Hb rsFC reduction with the rest of the brain and, specifically, with the anterior midcingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor cortex, primary motor cortex, and premotor cortex. Our results suggest that Hb rsFC parallels anatomical Hb connections in the healthy state and that overall Hb rsFC is reduced in patients, particularly connections with forebrain areas. Patients' decreased Hb rsFC to brain regions implicated in motor, affective, cognitive, and pain inhibitory/modulatory processes may contribute to their symptomatology.

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Investigating rapid effects of motor training on the brain's gray matter volume: a magnetic resonance imaging study with repeated testing

10.31237/osf.io/xad7t ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Arian Jafari ◽

Bo Jenner

Keyword(s):

Gray Matter ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Gray Matter Volume ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Future Research ◽

High Temporal Resolution ◽

Motor Training ◽

Repeated Testing ◽

Time Points ◽

Matter Volume

Recent MRI studies have shown that training can cause apparent gray matter volume (GMV) increases in task-relevant brain regions within hours or even minutes. The present study examined rapid plasticity in the context of motor training, at temporal resolutions of two minutes as well as roughly one hour. Twenty-five healthy volunteers practised performing a complex finger tapping task (FTT) while inside an MRI scanner. Previous research on FTT was used to define a priori region of interest PMCROI in the primary motor cortex. GMV in PMCROI was analyzed during rest and training at three time points: beginning, middle, and end of scan. We found an increase in GMV during rest compared to training at end of scan, indicating a potential delayed training effect. Post hoc analyses of the sensorimotor network resulted in comparable effects which did not survive correction. No significant differences in training GMV between the three time points were found in PMCROI. To our knowledge, no previous study has reported changes in GMV in such a short time period (120 seconds). Future research should continue investigations with high temporal resolution to explore a potential delay in rapid effects of training on GMV.

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Mirror Visual Feedback Impact on Abductor Pollicis Brevis Muscle Electrical Activity in the Stroke Affected Arm

Baltic Journal of Sport and Health Sciences ◽

10.33607/bjshs.v2i89.158 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (89) ◽

Author(s):

Mindaugas Kvedaras ◽

Rima Solianik ◽

Neringa Baranauskienė

Keyword(s):

Electrical Activity ◽

Visual Feedback ◽

Muscle Activity ◽

Bimanual Movement ◽

Abductor Pollicis Brevis ◽

Mirror Visual Feedback ◽

Motor Unit Firing ◽

Time Movement ◽

Abductor Pollicis Brevis Muscle

Research background and hypothesis. Stroke is recognized as one of the major causes of morbidity, mortality and long-term disability around the world (Laver et al., 2012). Mirror visual feedback is one of the newest areas of research that shows the potential application in neurorehabilitation (Kang et al., 2012). We hypothesize that abductor pollicis brevis muscle activity in the stroke affected arm will be higher when the movements are performed with non-affected hand visual mirror feedback.Research aim was to identify mirror visual feedback impact on abductor pollicis brevis muscle electrical activity in the stroke affected arm.Research methods. Post-stroke subjects (n = 12) performed bimanual thumb opposition under three conditions: without mirror visual feedback, with non-affected and affected arm reflection in the mirror. Electrical activity of abductor pollicis brevis muscle was recorded simultaniously.Research results. There was a significantly higher (p < 0.05) muscle activity amplitude when thumb opposition was performed with visual feedback of non-affected hand compared to task without mirror visual feedback. No muscle activity amplitude difference was observed when thumb opposition was performed looking at affected hand mirror visual feedback compared to task without mirror visual feedback. Motor unit firing rate did not differ between tasks.Discussion and conclusions. I. Nojima and co-authors (2012) have identified that mirror visual feedback activates motor cortex. Additionally, our study shows that even during one-time movement with observation of non-affected hand in the mirror shows higher muscle electrical activity in the affected hand.Keywords: mirror neurones, thumb opposition, bimanual movement.

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Decoding Analysis of Alpha Oscillation Networks on Maintaining Driver Alertness

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e22070787 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (7) ◽

pp. 787

Author(s):

Chi Zhang ◽

Jinfei Ma ◽

Jian Zhao ◽

Pengbo Liu ◽

Fengyu Cong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information Content ◽

Clustering Algorithm ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Frontal Region ◽

Occipital Region ◽

Connectivity Analysis ◽

Functional Connection ◽

Functional Connections ◽

Connection Matrices ◽

Alpha Oscillation

The countermeasure of driver fatigue is valuable for reducing the risk of accidents caused by vigilance failure during prolonged driving. Listening to the radio (RADIO) has been proven to be a relatively effective “in-car” countermeasure. However, the connectivity analysis, which can be used to investigate its alerting effect, is subject to the issue of signal mixing. In this study, we propose a novel framework based on clustering and entropy to improve the performance of the connectivity analysis to reveal the effect of RADIO to maintain driver alertness. Regardless of reducing signal mixing, we introduce clustering algorithm to classify the functional connections with their nodes into different categories to mine the effective information of the alerting effect. Differential entropy (DE) is employed to measure the information content in different brain regions after clustering. Compared with the Louvain-based community detection method, the proposed method shows more superior ability to present RADIO effectin confused functional connection matrices. Our experimental results reveal that the active connection clusters distinguished by the proposed method gradually move from frontal region to parieto-occipital regionwith the progress of fatigue, consistent with the alpha energy changes in these two brain areas. The active class of the clusters in parieto-occipital region significantly decreases and the most active clusters remain in the frontal region when RADIO is taken. The estimation results of DE confirm the significant change (p < 0.05) of information content due to the cluster movements. Hence, preventing the movement of the active clusters from frontal region to parieto-occipital region may correlate with maintaining driver alertness. The revelation of alerting effect is helpful for the targeted upgrade of fatigue countermeasures.

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Neuroplasticity of Acupuncture for Stroke: An Evidence-Based Review of MRI

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2021/2662585 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Jinhuan Zhang ◽

Chunjian Lu ◽

Xiaoxiong Wu ◽

Dehui Nie ◽

Haibo Yu

Keyword(s):

Acupuncture Therapy ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

System Level ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Future Research ◽

Sensorimotor Network

Acupuncture is widely recognized as a potentially effective treatment for stroke rehabilitation. Researchers in this area are actively investigating its therapeutic mechanisms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as a noninvasive, high anatomical resolution technique, has been employed to investigate neuroplasticity on acupuncture in stroke patients from a system level. However, there is no review on the mechanism of acupuncture treatment for stroke based on MRI. Therefore, we aim to summarize the current evidence about this aspect and provide useful information for future research. After searching PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases, 24 human and five animal studies were identified. This review focuses on the evidence on the possible mechanisms underlying mechanisms of acupuncture therapy in treating stroke by regulating brain plasticity. We found that acupuncture reorganizes not only motor-related network, including primary motor cortex (M1), premotor cortex, supplementary motor area (SMA), frontoparietal network (LFPN and RFPN), and sensorimotor network (SMN), as well as default mode network (aDMN and pDMN), but also language-related brain areas including inferior frontal gyrus frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, as well as cognition-related brain regions. In addition, acupuncture therapy can modulate the function and structural plasticity of post-stroke, which may be linked to the mechanism effect of acupuncture.

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The Social Neuroscience of Cooperation

10.31234/osf.io/8kcd4 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jay Joseph Van Bavel

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Models ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Review Literature ◽

Social Neuroscience ◽

Future Research ◽

A Value ◽

Group Cooperation ◽

Neural Processes ◽

The Social ◽

Cooperative Decision Making

We review literature from several fields to describe common experimental tasks used to measure human cooperation as well as the theoretical models that have been used to characterize cooperative decision-making, as well as brain regions implicated in cooperation. Building on work in neuroeconomics, we suggest a value-based account may provide the most powerful understanding the psychology and neuroscience of group cooperation. We also review the role of individual differences and social context in shaping the mental processes that underlie cooperation and consider gaps in the literature and potential directions for future research on the social neuroscience of cooperation. We suggest that this multi-level approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the mental and neural processes that underlie the decision to cooperate with others.

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Metacognition: ideas and insights from neuro- and educational sciences

npj Science of Learning ◽

10.1038/s41539-021-00089-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Damien S. Fleur ◽

Bert Bredeweg ◽

Wouter van den Bos

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

Large Body ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Metacognitive Knowledge ◽

Future Research ◽

Metacognitive Control ◽

Domain Generality ◽

Entry Points ◽

Control Research ◽

Educational Sciences

AbstractMetacognition comprises both the ability to be aware of one’s cognitive processes (metacognitive knowledge) and to regulate them (metacognitive control). Research in educational sciences has amassed a large body of evidence on the importance of metacognition in learning and academic achievement. More recently, metacognition has been studied from experimental and cognitive neuroscience perspectives. This research has started to identify brain regions that encode metacognitive processes. However, the educational and neuroscience disciplines have largely developed separately with little exchange and communication. In this article, we review the literature on metacognition in educational and cognitive neuroscience and identify entry points for synthesis. We argue that to improve our understanding of metacognition, future research needs to (i) investigate the degree to which different protocols relate to the similar or different metacognitive constructs and processes, (ii) implement experiments to identify neural substrates necessary for metacognition based on protocols used in educational sciences, (iii) study the effects of training metacognitive knowledge in the brain, and (iv) perform developmental research in the metacognitive brain and compare it with the existing developmental literature from educational sciences regarding the domain-generality of metacognition.

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