Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Neuroscience. 2019 Oct 15;418:244-253. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.08.047. Epub 2019 Sep 3.
Reactivation processes are fundamental for procedural memory improvement. Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) influences memory consolidation through the re-exposure to certain perceptual components present in a previous phase of associative learning. On the other hand, motor imagery (MI) affects procedural skills through a repeated mental simulation of a pre-learned movement without physically moving. Both for TMR and MI, performance improvement has proven to be associated with an induction of reactivation processes. The positive effect of TMR is widely acknowledged in sleep. Here, we measured its impact on procedural learning during waking, in particular during MI practice, in line with the hypothesis that the exogenously induced involuntary reactivations through TMR could add up to the endogenous and voluntary reactivations induced by MI. Therefore, we assessed the influence on performance on a sequential finger tapping task of an auditory TMR during MI practice. It was compared to four conditions: (i) MI alone, (ii) MI during an incompatible sound stimulation, (iii) a mere video viewing and (iv) an auditory TMR during a video viewing. Results showed that the TMR + MI condition determined the largest early performance improvement as indexed by the combined measure of speed and accuracy (number of correct sequences typed in the task). We propose that TMR may enhance the effectiveness of MI protocols, and that MI could represent an optimal time window during wakefulness to take advantage of the effects of TMR.
重新激活过程对于程序性记忆的改善至关重要。靶向记忆再激活（TMR）通过重新暴露于先前联想学习阶段存在的某些感知成分来影响记忆巩固。另一方面，运动意象（MI）通过对预先学习的运动进行反复的心理模拟而无需实际运动来影响程序性技能。对于 TMR 和 MI，已证明性能的提高与再激活过程的诱导有关。TMR 在睡眠中的积极作用已得到广泛认可。在这里，我们根据假设进行了研究，即 TMR 通过外源性诱导的无意识再激活可以与 MI 诱导的内源性和自愿性再激活相加，从而测量了 TMR 在清醒状态下对程序性学习的影响，特别是在 MI 练习期间。因此，我们评估了在 MI 练习期间进行听觉 TMR 对顺序手指敲击任务的表现的影响。将其与以下四种情况进行了比较：（i）仅 MI，（ii）MI 期间进行不兼容的声音刺激，（iii）仅观看视频以及（iv）在观看视频时进行听觉 TMR。结果表明，TMR+MI 条件决定了最大的早期性能提高，其指标为速度和准确性的综合测量（任务中输入的正确序列数）。我们提出 TMR 可能增强 MI 协议的有效性，并且 MI 可能代表清醒期间利用 TMR 效果的最佳时间窗口。
