Motor imagery in blind subjects: the influence of the previous visual experience

Neuroscience Letters
Luis Aureliano ImbiribaClaudia Domingues Vargas

Abstract

Mental simulation of movements has been widely used to infer about representational aspects of action. On a daily basis, motor planning and execution depends crucially both upon vision and kinesthesia. What if the former is lost? In this study we investigate the physiological changes induced during a mental simulation task in subjects with early and late onset blindness, analyzing simultaneously stabilometric (body sway), electromyographic (EMG, lateral gastrocnemius) and eletrocardiographic (ECG) signals. Subjects were asked to stand up on a force platform and instructed either to: rest during 20s; count mentally from 1 to 15; imagine themselves executing a bilateral plantar flexion 15 times and execute the same movement 15 times. Discriminant analysis was employed to have access to the differences in the groups with respect to heart rate variability (HRV), EMG and body sway measurements for each condition. We found an overall correct classification of 100 and 90.9%, respectively, for the stabilometric parameters and HRV. This result was found only for the mental simulation task (p<0.05), being absent for resting, counting and executing. Previous studies have shown that motor simulation in a kinesthetic mode strongly associate...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 2, 2008·Cerebral Cortex·Katja FiehlerFrank Rösler
Jan 22, 2009·Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair·Stephen J PageSteven C Cramer
May 12, 2010·Neuroscience·E C RodriguesC D Vargas
Jan 11, 2014·Psychological Science·Tapan K GandhiPawan Sinha
Feb 3, 2009·Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair·Francine MalouinJulien Doyon
Dec 5, 2017·Journal of Physical Therapy Science·Kotomi Shiota, Akane Tokui
May 3, 2007·Physical Therapy·Ruth Dickstein, Judith E Deutsch
Apr 3, 2020·Brain Imaging and Behavior·Kaoru AmemiyaEiichi Naito
Nov 9, 2012·Journal of Neurophysiology·Luís Aureliano ImbiribaClaudia D Vargas
Jan 22, 2021·Research in Developmental Disabilities·Nadja SchottVerena Neuberger

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