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Watanabe H, Washino S, Ogoh S, Miyamoto N, Kanehisa H, Kato H, Yoshitake Y. Observing an expert's action swapped with an observer's face increases corticospinal excitability during combined action observation and motor imagery. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:1016-1028. [PMID: 38275099 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine whether observing an expert's action swapped with an observer's face increases corticospinal excitability during combined action observation and motor imagery (AOMI). Twelve young males performed motor imagery of motor tasks with different difficulties while observing the actions of an expert performer and an expert performer with a swapped face. Motor tasks included bilateral wrist dorsiflexion (EASY) and unilateral two-ball rotating motions (DIFF). During the AOMI of EASY and DIFF, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered to the left primary motor cortex, and motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were obtained from the extensor carpi ulnaris and first dorsal interosseous muscles of the right upper limb, respectively. Visual analogue scale (VAS) assessed the subjective similarity of the expert performer with the swapped face in the EASY and DIFF to the participants themselves. The MEP amplitude in DIFF was larger in the observation of the expert performer with the swapped face than that of the expert performer (P = 0.012); however, the corresponding difference was not observed in EASY (P = 1.000). The relative change in the MEP amplitude from observing the action of the expert performer to that of the expert performer with the swapped face was positively correlated with VAS only in DIFF (r = 0.644, P = 0.024). These results indicate that observing the action of an expert performer with the observer's face enhances corticospinal excitability during AOMI, depending on the task difficulty and subjective similarity between the expert performer being observed and the observer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hironori Watanabe
- Department of Sports and Life Sciences, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan
- Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan
| | - Sohei Washino
- Human Augmentation Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan
| | - Shigehiko Ogoh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toyo University, Saitama, Japan
- Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, UK
| | - Naokazu Miyamoto
- Faculty of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Chiba, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Kanehisa
- Department of Sports and Life Sciences, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Kato
- Division of Information Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
| | - Yasuhide Yoshitake
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
- School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Watanabe H, Ogoh S, Miyamoto N, Kanehisa H, Yoshitake Y. Greater task difficulty during unilateral motor tasks changes intracortical inhibition and facilitation in the ipsilateral primary motor cortex in young men. Neurosci Lett 2023; 808:137293. [PMID: 37169163 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
This study aimed to clarify the changes in short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and facilitation (ICF) in the ipsilateral primary motor cortex (iM1) when the task difficulty during unilateral force-matching tasks was manipulated. Twelve young male adults matched their left index finger abduction force to a displayed target force. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the acceptable force range of the mean target force (5% MVC). Briefly, unilateral force-matching tasks with lesser and greater task difficulty (EASY and DIFF, respectively) were assigned acceptable force ranges of ± 7% and ± 0% of the target force, respectively. To evaluate SICI and ICF in iM1, paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation with 2-ms and 10-ms interstimulus intervals was applied to correct motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from the first dorsal interosseous muscle during each task. Test stimulus intensity to evoke the MEP with a peak-to-peak amplitude of approximately 0.5-1.5 mV for each task was lower in DIFF than in EASY (P = 0.001), indicating that DIFF increased corticospinal excitability of the ipsilateral hemisphere compared with EASY. The MEPs in SICI and ICF were significantly larger in DIFF than in EASY (P < 0.050). These results suggest that greater corticospinal excitability in the ipsilateral hemisphere during DIFF is associated with reduced SICI and increased ICF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hironori Watanabe
- Department of Sports and Life Sciences, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, 1 Shiromizu, Kanoya, Kagoshima 8912393, Japan; Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama 3591192, Japan
| | - Shigehiko Ogoh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toyo University, 2100 Kujirai, Kawagoe-Shi, Saitama 3508585, Japan; Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, UK
| | - Naokazu Miyamoto
- Faculty of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, 1-1 Hiraka-gakuendai, Inzai, Chiba 2701695, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Kanehisa
- Department of Sports and Life Sciences, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, 1 Shiromizu, Kanoya, Kagoshima 8912393, Japan
| | - Yasuhide Yoshitake
- Department of Sports and Life Sciences, National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, 1 Shiromizu, Kanoya, Kagoshima 8912393, Japan; Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 3868567, Japan; School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Dambreville C, Neige C, Mercier C, Blanchette AK, Bouyer LJ. Corticospinal Excitability Quantification During a Visually-Guided Precision Walking Task in Humans: Potential for Neurorehabilitation. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2022; 36:689-700. [PMID: 36125038 DOI: 10.1177/15459683221124909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The corticospinal tract has been shown to be involved in normal walking in humans. However, its contribution during more challenging locomotor tasks is still unclear. As the corticospinal tract can be a potential target to promote gait recovery after neurological injury, it is of primary importance to quantify its use during human walking. The aims of the current study were to: (1) quantify the effects of precision walking on corticospinal excitability as compared to normal walking; (2) assess if corticospinal modulation is related to task difficulty or participants' performance. Sixteen healthy participants walked on a treadmill during 2 tasks: regular walking (simple task) and stepping onto virtual targets (precision task). Virtual targets appeared randomly at 3 different step lengths: preferred, and ±20%. To assess corticospinal excitability, 25 motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the tibialis anterior muscle in each task during walking. Performance for each participant (global success score; % of target hit) and task difficulty related to step length adjustments (success score for each step length) were also calculated. MEP size was larger during the precision task in all participants (mean increase of 93% ± 72%; P < .05) compared to the simple task. There was a correlation between MEP facilitation and individual performance (r = -.64; P < .05), but no difference in MEP size associated with task difficulty (P > .05). In conclusion, corticospinal excitability exhibits a large increase during the precision task. This effect needs to be confirmed in neurological populations to potentially provide a simple and non-invasive approach to increase corticospinal drive during gait rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charline Dambreville
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Neuroscience Thematic Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Cécilia Neige
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Neuroscience Thematic Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,PsyR2 Team, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, INSERM U1028/CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neurosciences Research Center, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron, France
| | - Catherine Mercier
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Neuroscience Thematic Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Andreanne K Blanchette
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Neuroscience Thematic Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Laurent J Bouyer
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Neuroscience Thematic Research Center, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.,Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
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Buetler KA, Penalver-Andres J, Özen Ö, Ferriroli L, Müri RM, Cazzoli D, Marchal-Crespo L. "Tricking the Brain" Using Immersive Virtual Reality: Modifying the Self-Perception Over Embodied Avatar Influences Motor Cortical Excitability and Action Initiation. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 15:787487. [PMID: 35221950 PMCID: PMC8863605 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.787487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
To offer engaging neurorehabilitation training to neurologic patients, motor tasks are often visualized in virtual reality (VR). Recently introduced head-mounted displays (HMDs) allow to realistically mimic the body of the user from a first-person perspective (i.e., avatar) in a highly immersive VR environment. In this immersive environment, users may embody avatars with different body characteristics. Importantly, body characteristics impact how people perform actions. Therefore, alternating body perceptions using immersive VR may be a powerful tool to promote motor activity in neurologic patients. However, the ability of the brain to adapt motor commands based on a perceived modified reality has not yet been fully explored. To fill this gap, we "tricked the brain" using immersive VR and investigated if multisensory feedback modulating the physical properties of an embodied avatar influences motor brain networks and control. Ten healthy participants were immersed in a virtual environment using an HMD, where they saw an avatar from first-person perspective. We slowly transformed the surface of the avatar (i.e., the "skin material") from human to stone. We enforced this visual change by repetitively touching the real arm of the participant and the arm of the avatar with a (virtual) hammer, while progressively replacing the sound of the hammer against skin with stone hitting sound via loudspeaker. We applied single-pulse transcranial magnetic simulation (TMS) to evaluate changes in motor cortical excitability associated with the illusion. Further, to investigate if the "stone illusion" affected motor control, participants performed a reaching task with the human and stone avatar. Questionnaires assessed the subjectively reported strength of embodiment and illusion. Our results show that participants experienced the "stone arm illusion." Particularly, they rated their arm as heavier, colder, stiffer, and more insensitive when immersed with the stone than human avatar, without the illusion affecting their experienced feeling of body ownership. Further, the reported illusion strength was associated with enhanced motor cortical excitability and faster movement initiations, indicating that participants may have physically mirrored and compensated for the embodied body characteristics of the stone avatar. Together, immersive VR has the potential to influence motor brain networks by subtly modifying the perception of reality, opening new perspectives for the motor recovery of patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin A. Buetler
- Motor Learning and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Joaquin Penalver-Andres
- Motor Learning and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital), Bern, Switzerland
| | - Özhan Özen
- Motor Learning and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Luca Ferriroli
- Motor Learning and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - René M. Müri
- Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Dario Cazzoli
- Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Group, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Neurocenter, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Lucerne, Switzerland
| | - Laura Marchal-Crespo
- Motor Learning and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Cognitive Robotics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
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Mizuguchi N, Suezawa M, Kanosue K. Vividness and accuracy: Two independent aspects of motor imagery. Neurosci Res 2018; 147:17-25. [PMID: 30605697 DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2018.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Revised: 11/28/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Motor imagery is the mental execution of an action without any actual movement. Although numerous studies have utilized questionnaires to evaluate the vividness of motor imagery, it remains unclear whether it is related to the accuracy of motor imagery. To examine the relationship between vividness and accuracy, we investigated brain activity during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery, by using a novel sequential finger-tapping task. We estimated accuracy by measuring the fidelity of the actual performance and evaluated vividness by using a visual analog scale. We found that accuracy of visual motor imagery was correlated with the activity in the left visual cortex, as well as with bilateral sensorimotor regions. In contrast, vividness of visual motor imagery was associated with the activity in the right orbitofrontal cortex. However, there was no correlation in the brain activity between the right orbitofrontal cortex and visuomotor regions or between vividness and accuracy of motor imagery. In addition, we did not find any correlation in the kinesthetic imagery condition. We conclude that vividness of visual motor imagery is associated with the right orbitofrontal cortex and is independent of processes occurring in sensorimotor regions, which would be responsible for the accuracy of visual motor imagery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nobuaki Mizuguchi
- Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-1192, Japan; Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama city, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan; The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan.
| | - Marina Suezawa
- Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-1192, Japan
| | - Kazuyuki Kanosue
- Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-1192, Japan
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