Analysis of mirror neuron system activation during action observation alone and action observation with motor imagery tasks

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the relationship between action observation (AO)-related corticomotor excitability changes and phases of observed action and to explore the effects of pure AO and concurrent AO and motor imagery (MI) state on corticomotor excitability using TMS. It was also investigated whether the mirror neuron system activity is muscle-specific. Fourteen healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. EMG recordings were taken from the right first dorsal interosseous and the abductor digiti minimi muscles. There was a significant main effect of TMS timing (after the beginning of the movement, at the beginning of motor output state, and during black screen) on the mean motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude. Mean MEP amplitudes for AO combined with MI were significantly higher than pure AO session. There was a significant interaction between session and TMS timing. There was no significant main effect of muscle on MEP amplitude. The results indicate that corticomotor excitability is modulated by different phases of the observed motor movement and this modulation is not muscle-specific. Simultaneous MI and AO enhance corticomotor excitability significantly compared to pure AO.

Low-Cost Robotic Guide Based on a Motor Imagery Brain–Computer Interface for Arm Assisted Rehabilitation

“…According to similar studies [8,55,56], it could be used for post-stroke treatment, spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, trauma, etc. Moreover, as [57] have shown, by simultaneously combining motor imagery and action observation when compared to simply observing the action, we see an enhanced corticomotor excitability that might result from the activation of mirror neurons. This promising conclusion highlights that the results obtained in this study might be applied to the rehabilitation of medullary-injured patients.…”

The Effects of Instruction Manipulation on Motor Performance Following Action Observation

“…Here as well, no superiority effect of AO+MI on muscle function was found when compared to the AO+Attention, while both AO+Attention and AO+MI outperformed the control condition in terms of total force. Simultaneous MI and AO were found to significantly enhance corticomotor excitability in comparison to pure AO (Wright et al, 2016;Cengiz et al, 2018). Being instructed to observe passively, or with the intent to imitate the observed movement, or while simultaneously and actively imagining self-performance of the movement during observation facilitated corticospinal excitability to a greater extent than observation of a static hand.…”

Modulation of Motor Cortical Activities by Action Observation and Execution in Patients with Stroke: An MEG Study

“…In these networks, the same neural areas are responsible for both an observed action performed by others and the actual execution of the action [5, 13–15]. Action observation is applied in stroke rehabilitation because it may prime the motor system for subsequent motor practice and enhance the patients' performance by activating these networks [5, 16–18].…”

“…Experimental studies involving humans have shown that an action observation-execution matching mechanism is present in specific regions of the frontal and parietal lobes [19, 20]. However, many imaging studies on action observation have been conducted on healthy controls [14, 16, 19–21]. The experimental studies involving stroke patients have had considerable disparities among the stroke-onset phases (subacute or chronic stroke) of the recruited patients and the sizes (5 to 24) of the study samples.…”