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Motor imagery practice benefits during arm immobilization
Ursula Debarnot1,2,3,4, Aurore A Perrault5,6,7, Virginie Sterpenich5,6
1Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland. Ursula.debarnot@univ-lyon1.fr.
Scientific Reports
|April 27, 2021
Summary
Motor imagery (MI) practice during arm immobilization prevented negative changes in hand sensorimotor representation and brain activity. MI also improved sleep quality, including REM sleep duration, after immobilization.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Sleep Science
Background:
- Motor imagery (MI) engages motor networks and is used in rehabilitation.
- The effects of MI during immobilization are not well understood.
- Immobilization can lead to sensorimotor and cortical representation changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if MI practice during arm immobilization prevents negative changes.
- To assess MI's impact on sensorimotor and cortical hand representations.
- To evaluate MI's effects on sleep features post-immobilization.
Main Methods:
- Fourteen participants underwent 11-hour arm immobilization with either MI or control tasks.
- Post-immobilization assessments included a hand laterality judgment task.
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation measured primary motor cortex (M1) excitability.
- Polysomnography recorded sleep data.
Main Results:
- MI during immobilization improved sensorimotor hand representation.
- Cortical excitability over the contralateral M1 was preserved with MI.
- MI enhanced sleep spindles over both M1s.
- REM sleep duration increased following MI treatment.
Conclusions:
- MI practice during immobilization mitigates deleterious effects of limb disuse.
- MI supports sensorimotor functioning and brain plasticity.
- MI positively influences sleep architecture after immobilization.
