Modulation of hand motor skill performance induced by motor practice combined with matched or mismatched hand posture motor imagery.

Physiology & Behavior
Hai-Jiang MengYan-Ling Pi

Abstract

Motor imagery (MI), the mental rehearsal of a movement without muscle activation, combined with motor practice (MP) improves the performance of athletes and promotes rehabilitation of motor function among patients with brain injury. The actual hand posture influences the mental simulation of hand movements such that the ability of MI to affect corticospinal excitability is enhanced when the actual hand posture is consistent with the imagined movement of the hand. However, how MP combined with matched or mismatched hand posture MI modulates hand motor skill performance and the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, we first investigated whether MI hand posture that was compatible or incompatible with the actual MP influenced motor performance and corticospinal excitability induced by MI combined with MP. Twenty-eight healthy young adults repeatedly imagined either (1) closing their right hand into a fist with the thumb on top of the fingers and then opening the hand before actually performing that exact motor action or (2) performing the same motor skill but first imagining the right thumb touching the little finger before opening the hand . Changes in the peak acceleration of the hand grasp were measured to assess m...Continue Reading

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