Institute of Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, P.O. Box 310, 7500 AH, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Exp Brain Res. 2013 Sep;229(3):337-45. doi: 10.1007/s00221-013-3571-8. Epub 2013 Jun 16.
The activity of the brain during observation or imagination of movements might facilitate the relearning of motor functions after stroke. The present study examines whether there is an additional effect of imagination over observation-only. Eight healthy subjects observed and observed-and-imagined a movement of a hand; 64-channel EEG was used to measure brain activity. The synchronization of the theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz) and beta (13-25 Hz) frequency bands was calculated and plotted in topoplots. The temporal changes of the sensorimotor area (C3, C4) and the centro-parietal cortex (Pz) were analyzed in the two experimental conditions. During observation-and-imagination, a significant larger desynchronization (p = 0.004) in the sensorimotor area was found compared to observation-only in all electrodes and frequency bands. In addition, temporal differences were found between observation and observation-and-imagination in the alpha frequency bands. During observation-and-imagination, modulations of EEG rhythms were stronger than during observation-only in the theta, alpha and beta frequency bands and during almost the whole activity fragment. These findings suggest an additive effect of imagination to observation in the rehabilitation after stroke.
大脑在观察或想象运动时的活动可能有助于中风后运动功能的重新学习。本研究旨在检验想象是否比单纯观察具有额外的效果。8 名健康受试者观察并想象手的运动；使用 64 通道 EEG 测量大脑活动。计算并绘制了脑电同步的 theta（4-8 Hz）、alpha（8-13 Hz）和 beta（13-25 Hz）频带的地形图。在两种实验条件下，分析了感觉运动区（C3、C4）和中央顶叶皮层（Pz）的时间变化。与单纯观察相比，在观察和想象过程中，所有电极和频带的感觉运动区的去同步化（p = 0.004）显著更大。此外，在 alpha 频带中发现了观察和想象之间的时间差异。在观察和想象过程中，与单纯观察相比，theta、alpha 和 beta 频带以及几乎整个活动片段中的脑电节律调制更强。这些发现表明，在中风后的康复中，想象对观察具有附加作用。
