Enhancing Sensorimotor Activity by Controlling Virtual Objects with Gaze

Abstract

This fMRI work studies brain activity of healthy volunteers who manipulated a virtual object in the context of a digital game by applying two different control methods: using their right hand or using their gaze. The results show extended activations in sensorimotor areas, not only when participants played in the traditional way (using their hand) but also when they used their gaze to control the virtual object. Furthermore, with the exception of the primary motor cortex, regional motor activity was similar regardless of what the effector was: the arm or the eye. These results have a potential application in the field of the neurorehabilitation as a new approach to generate activation of the sensorimotor system to support the recovery of the motor functions.

Exploring associations between gaze patterns and putative human mirror neuron system activity

“…For example, if the direct matching hypothesis is accurate, our eye movements should be approximately the same whether we are observing or performing an action. For example, in one recent study regional motor activity was shown to be highly similar irrespective of whether an arm or an eye was being utilized to control a virtual object ( Modroño et al, 2015 ). It is unlikely, however, that when performing actions we employ PG in the way operationalised herein (i.e., looking at our own hand and then predictively at the object we are reaching to grasp).…”

Neurofunctional correlates of eye to hand motor transfer

“…A statistical parametric map resulting from this contrast was displayed on the surface and on three selected axial slices of a MNI single‐subject T1 image (Figure ). The results revealed activations in cortical and noncortical regions typically involved in visuomotor tasks (Modroño et al, ; Modroño, Navarrete, Rodriguez‐Hernandez, & Gonzalez‐Mora, ), including the supplementary motor area, the premotor cortex, the primary motor cortex, the basal ganglia, the thalamus, parieto‐occipital regions and the cerebellum. Activations were found in the left (but not in the right) primary motor cortex, which is consistent with the fact that the task was performed with the right hand.…”

“…These regions are: the left dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), the supplementary motor area (SMA), the primary motor cortex (M1), the putamen, and the cerebellum (Hardwick et al, ). Thus, at the cortical level, we predict activations in the left dPMC and in the SMA (during the learning period, the sensorimotor task is controlled with the eye and presumably the M1 is not involved [Modroño et al, ], thus, the M1 will not initially be proposed as a candidate to be activated at transfer). At the subcortical level, we predict activations in the putamen and the cerebellum.…”

“…In this sense, one important observation that was derived from available neural studies some years ago (Anguera, Russell, Noll, & Seidler, 2007;Seidler, 2010;Seidler & Noll, 2008) is that motor transfer is associated with brain activations that are also characteristic of motor learning (especially in its late stage); an evaluation of this observation at the intereffector level could be helpful for the development or improvement of neural models of motor transfer. Furthermore, beyond the basic perspective, neural studies on motor transfer are also of interest in the field of neurorehabilitation because they can help to understand and establish new ways of generating activation in motor systems and support the recovery of motor functions of patients (Johansen-Berg et al, 2002;Szameitat, Shen, Conforto, & Sterr, 2012), for example by using the eye instead of the hand to control virtual objects (Modroño et al, 2015).…”

The Study of Action Observation Therapy in Neurological Diseases: A Few Technical Considerations

“…Thus, VR and AOT modulate the MNS to achieve an improvement in the functional condition of patients. In this respect, some studies have shown the presence of an intense MNS activity during VR tasks [51,52].…”