Motor imagery training of goal-directed reaching in relation to imagery of reaching and grasping in healthy people

Joanna Mencel; Jarosław Marusiak; Anna Jaskólska; Łukasz Kamiński; Marek Kurzyński; Andrzej Wołczowski; Artur Jaskólski; Katarzyna Kisiel-Sajewicz

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-21890-1

Motor imagery training of goal-directed reaching in relation to imagery of reaching and grasping in healthy people

Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 3;12(1):18610. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-21890-1.

Authors

Joanna Mencel¹, Jarosław Marusiak¹, Anna Jaskólska¹, Łukasz Kamiński¹, Marek Kurzyński², Andrzej Wołczowski², Artur Jaskólski¹, Katarzyna Kisiel-Sajewicz³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Physiotherapy, Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences, Al. I. J. Paderewskiego 35, budynek P4, 51-612, Wrocław, Poland.
² Department of Field Theory, Electronic Circuits and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland.
³ Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Physiotherapy, Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences, Al. I. J. Paderewskiego 35, budynek P4, 51-612, Wrocław, Poland. katarzyna.kisiel-sajewicz@awf.wroc.pl.

Abstract

The study aimed to determine whether four weeks of motor imagery training (MIT) of goal-directed reaching (reaching to grasp task) would affect the cortical activity during motor imagery of reaching (MIR) and grasping (MIG) in the same way. We examined cortical activity regarding event-related potentials (ERPs) in healthy young participants. Our study also evaluated the subjective vividness of the imagery. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the relationship between the subjective assessment of motor imagery (MI) ability to reach and grasp and the cortical activity during those tasks before and after training to understand the underlying neuroplasticity mechanisms. Twenty-seven volunteers participated in MIT of goal-directed reaching and two measurement sessions before and after MIT. During the sessions 128-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during MIR and MIG. Also, participants assessed the vividness of the MI tasks using a visual analog scale (VAS). The vividness of imagination improved significantly (P < .05) after MIT. A repeated measures ANOVA showed that the task (MIR/MIG) and the location of electrodes had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). The interaction between the task, location, and session (before/after MIT) also had a significant effect on the ERP's amplitude (P < .05). Finally, the location of electrodes and the interaction between location and session had a significant effect on the ERP's latency (P < .05). We found that MIT influenced the EEG signal associated with reaching differently than grasping. The effect was more pronounced for MIR than for MIG. Correlation analysis showed that changes in the assessed parameters due to MIT reduced the relationship between the subjective evaluation of imagining and the EEG signal. This finding means that the subjective evaluation of imagining cannot be a simple, functional insight into the bioelectrical activity of the cerebral cortex expressed by the ERPs in mental training. The changes we noted in ERPs after MIT may benefit the use of non-invasive EEG in the brain-computer interface (BCI) context.Trial registration: NCT04048083.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Brain-Computer Interfaces
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials / physiology
Goals
Hand Strength* / physiology
Humans
Imagery, Psychotherapy* / education
Imagination / physiology
Motor Skills* / physiology

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04048083

Grants and funding

DEC-2011/03/B/NZ7/00588/National Science Centre of the Republic of Poland