Motor imagery perspective and brain oscillations characteristics: Differences between right- and left-handers

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Motor Control

Background:

• Motor imagery (MI) involves kinesthetic (KMI), internal visual (IVMI), and external visual (EVMI) components.
• Understanding hemispheric differences in MI processing is crucial for brain-computer interfaces and rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate α/β oscillations and connectivity during different types of MI (KMI, IVMI, EVMI) in left- and right-handed individuals.
• To explore how handedness influences brain activity and connectivity patterns during motor imagery of dominant and non-dominant hands.

Main Methods:

• EEG analysis of α/β oscillations and imaginary part of coherence (ICOH) in visual and motor ROIs.
• Participants included 20 left-handed and 20 right-handed volunteers.
• MI tasks involved left/right-hand movements across KMI, IVMI, and EVMI conditions.

Main Results:

• Left-handed individuals showed greater α/β activity in visual regions during EVMI for the non-dominant hand compared to IVMI.
• Right-handed individuals exhibited visual cortex suppression during KMI, suggesting internal focus.
• ICOH connectivity varied by handedness, task, and hand, with stronger connections for non-dominant hand EVMI in right-handers.

Conclusions:

• Left-handed individuals appear to rely more on visual representations during MI, particularly for the non-dominant hand.
• Right-handed individuals may engage in more multimodal imagery during motor imagery tasks.
• Handedness significantly modulates neural strategies employed during motor imagery.