Central activation of autonomic effectors during mental simulation of motor actions in man

1. Healthy subjects actually performed and mentally simulated a leg exercise at two levels of work (15 and 19 kg loads). Heart rate, respiration rate and end-tidal PCO2 were measured in both conditions. In addition, muscular metabolism was simultaneously measured using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. 2. During actual exercise, heart and respiration rates increased, first abruptly and then gradually in relation to the level of work. End-tidal PCO2 was unaltered. NMR spectra showed a drop in phosphocreatine (PCr) and an increase in inorganic phosphate (Pi) concentrations. Intracellular pH fell to 6.65 at maximal effort with a 19 kg load. 3. During mental simulation, both heart and ventilatory rate increased immediately after mental exercise was begun. This increase was proportional to the amount of simulated exercise. Heart rate remained about 25% below the level observed during actual exercise. The increase in respiration rate, by contrast, was more marked than during actual exercise. Finally, end-tidal PCO2 decreased progressively to about 18% of the resting value. 4. During mental simulation, NMR spectra were unchanged with respect to the resting values. 5. Subjects rated their sensation of fatigue using an analog rating scale, during both actual exercise and mental simulation. During mental exercise, the sensation of fatigue was greater with the 19 kg load than with the 15 kg load. 6. These results demonstrate that mental simulation of action can activate heart and respiration control mechanisms. They suggest that autonomic activation during imagined action pertains to the more general phenomenon of preparation for action.