Motor imagery alone drives corticospinal excitability during concurrent action observation and motor imagery

Meers, Rosie; Nuttall, Helen E.; Vogt, Stefan

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2020.01.012

Cited by 49 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The preference for the firstperson video therefore suggests that, despite this potential difficulty, observation of an action from the first-person perspective may facilitate the generation of kinaesthetic imagery by providing a visual prompt, as highlighted in the following quote: "I'd feel more what that felt like to me, because the film was about…as if it was me that was doing the action". This is consistent with the hypothesis that the role of AO in AO+MI is to provide an external visual guide for MI, as indicated by MI-specific effects on corticospinal excitability in healthy participants [71].…”

Section: Acceptability and Usabilitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease (ACTION-PD): development and pilot randomised controlled trial of a user-informed home training intervention to improve everyday functional actions

Bek

Holmes

Webb

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) causes difficulties with everyday manual activities, but few studies have addressed these therapeutically. Training with action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) can produce significant improvements in healthy individuals' performance, particularly when these techniques are applied simultaneously (AO+MI). Both AO and MI have shown promising effects in PD, but previous studies have used these separately. This article describes the development and pilot testing of an intervention combining AO+MI and physical practice to improve functional manual actions in PD. Methods: The home-based intervention, delivered using a tablet computer app, was iteratively designed by an interdisciplinary team including people with PD, and further developed through focus groups and initial testing. The intervention was then tested in a six-week RCT with participants with mild to moderate PD: 6 participants received the training and 4 received treatment as usual (ISRCTN 11184024). Results and Conclusions: Usage and qualitative data provided preliminary evidence of acceptability and usability, indicating that a feasibility RCT is warranted. Exploratory analyses suggested potential improvements in manual actions. The importance of personalisation, choice, and motivation was highlighted, as well as the need to facilitate engagement in motor imagery. The findings also have broader relevance for AO+MI interventions in PD and other populations.

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Section: Acceptability and Usabilitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease (ACTION-PD): development and pilot randomised controlled trial of a user-informed home training intervention to improve everyday functional actions

Bek

Holmes

Webb

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Another possible reason for the lack of effect of sonification on corticospinal excitability may be due to interactions between AO, MI, and external auditory feedback. Recent investigations suggest that combined usage of AO and MI affects attentional processing and mental effort (Bruton et al 2020 ; Meers et al 2020 ). Studies show that during AOMI, there is a reallocation of attention between externally evoked to internal simulation of the kinesthetic predicted sensation arising from the action (Eaves et al 2016a , b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, future studies should also explore the effects of sonification of other types of AOMIs such as coordinative and incongruent AOMI (Eaves et al 2016b ; Vogt et al 2013 ). Under the dual simulation hypothesis, when the observed and imagined action are not congruent, there is a representational conflict, which results in a lower corticospinal excitability, and an increase in attentional demand to complete the task (Bruton et al 2020 ; Meers et al 2020 ). However, these forms of dual representation of action can still be used in motor (re)learning and should be further explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does sonification of action simulation training impact corticospinal excitability and audiomotor plasticity?

et al. 2021

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Sonification is a sensory augmentation strategy whereby a sound is associated with, and modulated by, movement. Evidence suggests that sonification could be a viable strategy to maximize learning and rehabilitation. Recent studies investigated sonification of action observation, reporting beneficial effects, especially in Parkinson’s disease. However, research on simulation training—a training regime based on action observation and motor imagery, in which actions are internally simulated, without physical execution—suggest that action observation alone is suboptimal, compared to the combined use of action observation and motor imagery. In this study, we explored the effects of sonified action observation and motor imagery on corticospinal excitability, as well as to evaluate the extent of practice-dependent plasticity induced by this training. Nineteen participants were recruited to complete a practice session based on combined and congruent action observation and motor imagery (AOMI) and physical imitation of the same action. Prior to the beginning, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, one group (nine participants) completed the practice block with sonified AOMI, while the other group (ten participants) completed the practice without extrinsic auditory information and served as control group. To investigate practice-induced plasticity, participants completed two auditory paired associative stimulation (aPAS) protocols, one completed after the practice block, and another one completed alone, without additional interventions, at least 7 days before the practice. After the practice block, both groups significantly increased their corticospinal excitability, but sonification did not exert additional benefits, compared to non-sonified conditions. In addition, aPAS significantly increased corticospinal excitability when completed alone, but when it was primed by a practice block, no modulatory effects on corticospinal excitability were found. It is possible that sonification of combined action observation and motor imagery may not be a useful strategy to improve corticospinal, but further studies are needed to explore its relationship with performance improvements. We also confirm the neuromodulatory effect of aPAS, but its interaction with audiomotor practice remain unclear.

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“…subjects had to mentally imagine the movement while following the rhythm imposed by the video), no MEP modulation was observed. Interestingly, a recent study suggested that MI is the primary determinant of increased MEP during combined AO and MI 52 . Another hypothesis for the lack of AO + MI effect could also be the possible competition between the movement that the subjects imagined and the one they observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the on-line effects of different motor simulation conditions on corticospinal excitability in healthy participants

Pfenninger

Grosprêtre

Remontet

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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In healthy participants, corticospinal excitability is known to increase during motor simulations such as motor imagery (MI), action observation (AO) and mirror therapy (MT), suggesting their interest to promote plasticity in neurorehabilitation. Further comparing these methods and investigating their combination may potentially provide clues to optimize their use in patients. To this end, we compared in 18 healthy participants abductor pollicis brevis (APB) corticospinal excitability during MI, AO or MT, as well as MI combined with either AO or MT. In each condition, 15 motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) and three maximal M-wave were elicited in the right APB. Compared to the control condition, mean normalized MEP amplitude (i.e. MEP/M) increased during MI (P = .003), MT (P < .001) and MT + MI (P < .001), without any difference between the three conditions. No MEP modulation was evidenced during AO or AO + MI. Because MI provided no additional influence when combined with AO or MT, our results may suggest that, in healthy subjects, visual feedback and unilateral movement with a mirror may provide the greatest effects among all the tested motor simulations.

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Motor imagery alone drives corticospinal excitability during concurrent action observation and motor imagery

Cited by 49 publications

References 50 publications

Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease (ACTION-PD): development and pilot randomised controlled trial of a user-informed home training intervention to improve everyday functional actions

Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson’s Disease (ACTION-PD): development and pilot randomised controlled trial of a user-informed home training intervention to improve everyday functional actions

Does sonification of action simulation training impact corticospinal excitability and audiomotor plasticity?

Comparison of the on-line effects of different motor simulation conditions on corticospinal excitability in healthy participants

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