How to integrate simultaneously recorded Kinematic into an individual fMRI Motor Task Analysis?

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and kinematics analysis play an increasingly important role in understanding motor function. However, the integration of fMRI motor task kinematics into the first-level fMRI analysis has been poorly explored. This study aimed to address related challenges by investigating different ways to integrate kinematics into the first-level fMRI analysis. Twenty-five healthy controls performed a block-designed elbow flexion task inside an MRI scanner. Their movements were recorded using an MRI-compatible motion capture system. Extracted kinematics were integrated into the General Linear Model (GLM) at the first-level fMRI analysis in six ways. The results revealed that modeling the velocity of concatenated elbow flexions-extension over time though a parametric modulation, successfully captured brain activity associated with variations in velocity, contributing to our understanding of healthy motor control. Future work, should confirm these findings, using different motor tasks and kinematics, like smoothness, and in people with motor deficits.