Mental imaging of motor activity in humans

A Compensatory Mirror Cortical Mechanism for Facial Affect Processing in Schizophrenia

“…Single-unit recording studies in monkeys and functional imaging studies in healthy human volunteers suggest that the motor systems can show activation in the absence of motor output, similar to that found during actual motor acts (Gallese et al 1996;Hari et al 1998;Iacoboni et al 1999;Nishitani and Hari 2000;Roth et al 1996;Jeannerod and Frak 1999). There is evidence that imaging a movement is associated with activation of the motor areas that would be normally responsible for generating such movement (Jeannerod and Frak 1999;Schnitzler et al 1997).…”

“…There is evidence that imaging a movement is associated with activation of the motor areas that would be normally responsible for generating such movement (Jeannerod and Frak 1999;Schnitzler et al 1997). Resonant or mirroring systems that match execution and observation of an action have been described that may help in the understanding of the behaviors, actions, and intentions of other individuals in society (Gallese et al 1996;Hari et al 1998;Iacoboni et al 1999;Rizzolatti et al 1999;Nishitani and Hari 2000;Rizzolatti and Arbib 1998;Gallese and Goldman 1998;Decety et al 1994).…”

Cortical activation during executed, imagined, observed, and passive wrist movements in healthy volunteers and stroke patients

“…It is assumed that motor imagery is an internal simulation of the overt movement program (Jeannerod, 1994;Jeannerod and Frak, 1999). Thus, the essential process to perform motor imagery is the programming and planning of the movement in premotor cortices.…”

“…the mental simulation of a motor act. It has been suggested that kinesthetic motor imagery involves the same neural network as motor planning (Jeannerod, 1994;Jeannerod and Frak, 1999), which in turn is thought to rely on the same motor structures as motor execution (Johnson-Frey, 2004;Munzert et al, 2009;Sharma et al, 2006). In support of this view, motor imagery shares a number of similarities with overt movement execution, such as behavioral (Decety and Jeannerod, 1995) and physiological parameters (Kranczioch et al, 2008(Kranczioch et al, , 2009, and, importantly, the functional neuroanatomical correlates (Decety, 1996;Lotze and Halsband, 2006;Porro et al, 1996;Szameitat et al, 2007aSzameitat et al, , 2007b.…”

Enhanced Sensory Recovery after Median Nerve Epair Using Cortical Audio–Tactile Interaction. A Randomised Multicentre Study

“…In such a situation, it is hoped that activation of cortical hand representation might be effective in maintaining the cortical hand map. It is well known that the premotor cortex can be activated by just imaging a movement, so-called "motor imagery" (Jeannerod, 1994;Jeannerod and Frak, 1999;Kosslyn et al, 2001;Lotze et al, 1999).It has been demonstrated that the pattern of somatosensory activation during motor imagery is very similar to the pattern observed during movement execution (Ehrsson et al, 2003) Also, observing movements activates mirror neurons in the frontal cortex (Celnik et al, 2005;Craighero, 2004Rizzolatti et al, 1996). Mirror neuron areas have also been shown to be involved in understanding the intention of others (Iacoboni et al, 2005).…”