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Brain Activity During Electrical Stimulation of Visual-Motor Illusion with Enhanced Joint Motion Intensity
Junpei Tanabe1, Kazu Amimoto2,3, Katsuya Sakai3
1Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hiroshima Cosmopolitan University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Journal of Motor Behavior
|September 9, 2025
Summary
Power-visual-motor illusion (P-VMI) alone, not combined with electrical stimulation, showed greater activation in specific motor brain regions. This suggests P-VMI and electrical stimulation do not always enhance brain activity together.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Visual-motor illusion (VMI) involves kinesthetic perception from viewing joint motion.
- Enhanced joint movement intensity (P-VMI) is hypothesized to activate extensive motor association areas.
- Combining P-VMI with sensory cortex electrical stimulation may further increase brain activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain activity during combined P-VMI and electrical stimulation using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
- To determine if combined P-VMI and electrical stimulation enhance brain activity more than either intervention alone.
- To identify specific motor-related brain regions activated by these interventions.
Main Methods:
- fNIRS was used to measure brain activity in 15 healthy adults.
- Participants underwent three randomized tasks: P-VMI with electrical stimulation, P-VMI alone, and electrical stimulation alone, focusing on the left ankle joint.
- Each task involved a 15s rest, 30s task performance, and 30s follow-up period, with motor-related areas as regions of interest.
Main Results:
- P-VMI alone demonstrated greater activation in the right superior parietal lobule and left supramarginal gyrus compared to the combined P-VMI and electrical stimulation condition.
- No significant complementary enhancement of brain activity was observed when P-VMI was combined with sensory-threshold electrical stimulation.
- Electrical stimulation alone did not show comparable activation in these specific motor-related regions.
Conclusions:
- P-VMI alone appears to be more effective in activating specific motor-related brain regions than when combined with sensory-threshold electrical stimulation.
- The findings indicate that combining P-VMI and electrical stimulation does not necessarily lead to synergistic effects on brain activity in motor areas.
- Further research is needed to explore the conditions under which combined interventions might enhance neural activation.
