Wright David J, McCormick Sheree A, Williams Jacqueline, Holmes Paul S
Centre for Health, Exercise and Active Living, Manchester Metropolitan University UK.
Centre for Health, Exercise and Active Living, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityUK; College of Sport and Exercise Science, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria UniversityMelbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2016 Feb 1;10:17. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00017. eCollection 2016.
Action observation interventions may have the potential to contribute to improved motor function in motor (re)learning settings by promoting functional activity and plasticity in the motor regions of the brain. Optimal methods for delivering such interventions, however, have yet to be established. This experiment investigated the effect on corticospinal excitability of manipulating the viewing instructions provided to participants (N = 21) prior to action observation. Specifically, motor evoked potential responses measured from the right hand muscles following single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the left motor cortex were compared when participants were instructed to observe finger-thumb opposition movement sequences: (i) passively; (ii) with the intent to imitate the observed movement; or (iii) whilst simultaneously and actively imagining that they were performing the movement as they observed it. All three action observation viewing instructions facilitated corticospinal excitability to a greater extent than did observation of a static hand. In addition, the extent to which corticospinal excitability was facilitated was greater during combined observation and imagery, compared to passive observation. These findings have important implications for the design of action observation interventions in motor (re)learning settings, where instructions that encourage observers to simultaneously imagine themselves performing the observed movement may offer the current optimal method for improving motor function through action observation.
动作观察干预可能有潜力通过促进大脑运动区域的功能活动和可塑性，在运动（再）学习环境中有助于改善运动功能。然而，实施此类干预的最佳方法尚未确定。本实验研究了在动作观察之前，操纵提供给参与者（N = 21）的观看指导对皮质脊髓兴奋性的影响。具体而言，当参与者被指示观察手指-拇指对指运动序列时，比较了在对左侧运动皮层进行单脉冲经颅磁刺激（TMS）后，从右手肌肉测量的运动诱发电位反应：（i）被动观察；（ii）意图模仿观察到的运动；或（iii）在观察运动的同时积极想象自己正在进行该运动。与观察静态手部相比，所有三种动作观察观看指导都在更大程度上促进了皮质脊髓兴奋性。此外，与被动观察相比，在联合观察和想象过程中，皮质脊髓兴奋性的促进程度更大。这些发现对于运动（再）学习环境中动作观察干预的设计具有重要意义，在这种环境中，鼓励观察者同时想象自己正在进行观察到的运动的指导可能提供了目前通过动作观察改善运动功能的最佳方法。
