Kinesthetic motor imagery modulates body sway

• Published in: Neuroscience Vol. 169; no. 2; pp. 743 - 750
• Main Authors: Rodrigues, E.C, Lemos, T, Gouvea, B, Volchan, E, Imbiriba, L.A, Vargas, C.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 25.08.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Data processing; Electromyography; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; human balance; Humans; Imagination; Kinesthesis; Male; motor simulation; Movement; Neurology; Postural Balance; posturography; rambling; trembling; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Young Adult; Hoffman reflex; M1; CoP; H-reflex; trembling; center of pressure minus center of gravity; posturography; transcranial magnetic stimulation; motor simulation; center of gravity; anterior–posterior direction of body sway; center of pressure; human balance; EMG; ML; primary motor cortex; rambling; root mean square value; T-reflex; AP; tendinous reflex; electromyography; RMS; CoG; TMS; CoP−CoG; medial–lateral direction of body sway; Human
• ISSN: 0306-4522; 1873-7544
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.04.081

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of imagining an action implicating the body axis in the kinesthetic and visual motor imagery modalities upon the balance control system. Body sway analysis (measurement of center of pressure, CoP) together with electromyography (EMG) recording and verbal evaluation of imagery abilities were obtained from subjects during four tasks, performed in the upright position: to execute bilateral plantar flexions; to imagine themselves executing bilateral plantar flexions (kinesthetic modality); to imagine someone else executing the same movement (visual modality), and to imagine themselves singing a song (as a control imagery task). Body sway analysis revealed that kinesthetic imagery leads to a general increase in CoP oscillation, as reflected by an enhanced area of displacement. This effect was also verified for the CoP standard deviation in the medial–lateral direction. An increase in the trembling displacement (equivalent to center of pressure minus center of gravity) restricted to the anterior–posterior direction was also observed to occur during kinesthetic imagery. The visual imagery task did not differ from the control (sing) task for any of the analyzed parameters. No difference in the subjects' ability to perform the imagery tasks was found. No modulation of EMG data were observed across imagery tasks, indicating that there was no actual execution during motor imagination. These results suggest that motor imagery performed in the kinesthetic modality evokes motor representations involved in balance control.