Motor imagery while judging object-hand interactions

Neuroreport. 2005 Aug 1;16(11):1193-6. doi: 10.1097/00001756-200508010-00012.

Abstract

Because corticospinal excitability, as assessed with transcranial magnetic stimulation, has been repeatedly shown to increase during motor imagery, we used this approach to determine whether appreciating object-hand interactions involves motor imagery. Corticospinal excitability was measured in nine healthy participants who were asked to decide whether a hand presented in a given posture was compatible with the use of an object. The control task consisted in deciding whether two hands were in the same posture; a dimming task was used to determine the baseline. We found a significant increase in corticospinal excitability while judging object-hand interactions in comparison with the two other tasks. This finding suggests that predicting the consequences of an action involves implicit motor imagery.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Electric Stimulation / methods
  • Evoked Potentials, Motor / physiology
  • Evoked Potentials, Motor / radiation effects
  • Functional Laterality / physiology
  • Hand / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Imagination / physiology*
  • Judgment / physiology*
  • Magnetics
  • Male
  • Movement / physiology*
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Pyramidal Tracts / physiology
  • Pyramidal Tracts / radiation effects
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Reaction Time / radiation effects