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Kinesthetic, but not visual, motor imagery modulates corticomotor excitability

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Abstract

The hypothesis that motor imagery and actual movement involve overlapping neural structures in the central nervous system is supported by multiple lines of evidence. The aim of this study was to examine the modulation of corticomotor excitability during two types of strategies for motor imagery: Kinesthetic Motor Imagery (KMI) and Visual Motor Imagery (VMI) in a phasic thumb movement task. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied over the contralateral motor cortex (M1) to elicit motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the dominant abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM). In a separate experiment, transcutaneous electrical stimuli were delivered to the median nerve at the dominant wrist, to elicit F-waves from APB. Imagined task performance was paced with a 1 Hz auditory metronome, and stimuli were delivered either 50 ms before (ON phase), or 450 ms after (OFF phase), the metronome beeps. Recordings were also made during two control conditions: Rest, and a Visual Static Imagery (VSI) condition. Significant MEP amplitude facilitation occurred only in APB, and only during the ON phase of KMI. F-wave persistence and amplitude were unaffected by imagery. These results demonstrate that kinesthetic, but not visual, motor imagery modulates corticomotor excitability, primarily at the supraspinal level. These findings have implications for the definition of motor imagery, and for its therapeutic applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Craig Hall for helpful comments related to the MIQ-R, and Cheryl Murphy and Melanie Fleming for their assistance in data collection and analysis. Support for the present study was provided through grants from the Research Council of K.U. Leuven, Belgium (Contract No. OT/03/61), the Research Programme of the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen# G.0460.04 and G.0245.05), and the Auckland Medical Research Foundation (81475).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Motor Control Laboratory, Department Sport & Exercise Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Cathy M. Stinear & Winston D. Byblow

  2. Motor Control Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, Group Biomedical Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Maarten Steyvers, Oron Levin & Stephan P. Swinnen

  3. Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Health Sciences, Hogeschool Antwerpen, Belgium

    Maarten Steyvers

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  1. Cathy M. Stinear
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  2. Winston D. Byblow
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Correspondence to Cathy M. Stinear.

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Stinear, C.M., Byblow, W.D., Steyvers, M. et al. Kinesthetic, but not visual, motor imagery modulates corticomotor excitability. Exp Brain Res 168, 157–164 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0078-y

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