Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada.
Laboratory for Brain Recovery and Function, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Neuroimage. 2014 Nov 1;101:159-67. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.06.066. Epub 2014 Jul 3.
Motor imagery (MI) may be effective as an adjunct to physical practice for motor skill acquisition. For example, MI is emerging as an effective treatment in stroke neurorehabilitation. As in physical practice, the repetitive activation of neural pathways during MI can drive short- and long-term brain changes that underlie functional recovery. However, the lack of feedback about MI performance may be a factor limiting its effectiveness. The provision of feedback about MI-related brain activity may overcome this limitation by providing the opportunity for individuals to monitor their own performance of this endogenous process. We completed a controlled study to isolate neurofeedback as the factor driving changes in MI-related brain activity across repeated sessions. Eighteen healthy participants took part in 3 sessions comprised of both actual and imagined performance of a button press task. During MI, participants in the neurofeedback group received source level feedback based on activity from the left and right sensorimotor cortex obtained using magnetoencephalography. Participants in the control group received no neurofeedback. MI-related brain activity increased in the sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the imagined movement across sessions in the neurofeedback group, but not in controls. Task performance improved across sessions but did not differ between groups. Our results indicate that the provision of neurofeedback during MI allows healthy individuals to modulate regional brain activity. This finding has the potential to improve the effectiveness of MI as a tool in neurorehabilitation.
运动想象(MI)可能是物理练习的有效辅助手段,有助于运动技能的获取。例如,在脑卒中神经康复中,MI 正逐渐成为一种有效的治疗方法。与物理练习一样,MI 过程中神经通路的重复激活可以驱动短期和长期的大脑变化,从而实现功能恢复。然而,由于 MI 表现缺乏反馈,这可能成为限制其效果的一个因素。提供与 MI 相关的大脑活动的反馈可能通过为个体提供监测自身内源性过程表现的机会来克服这一限制。我们完成了一项对照研究,将神经反馈作为驱动 MI 相关脑活动在重复疗程中变化的因素进行了分离。18 名健康参与者参与了 3 次疗程,包括实际和想象中的按钮按压任务。在 MI 过程中,神经反馈组的参与者根据使用脑磁图获得的来自左右感觉运动皮层的活动,接受源水平反馈。对照组的参与者没有接受神经反馈。在神经反馈组中,随着疗程的进行,对侧想象运动的感觉运动皮层中的 MI 相关脑活动增加,但对照组则没有。任务表现随着疗程的进行而改善,但组间没有差异。我们的研究结果表明,在 MI 过程中提供神经反馈可以使健康个体调节区域大脑活动。这一发现有可能提高 MI 作为神经康复工具的有效性。