Kaneko Naotsugu, Masugi Yohei, Usuda Noboru, Yokoyama Hikaru, Nakazawa Kimitaka
Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
Brain Sci. 2019 Nov 21;9(12):333. doi: 10.3390/brainsci9120333.
Action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) are useful techniques in neurorehabilitation. Previous studies have reported that AO and MI facilitate corticospinal excitability only in those muscles that are active when actually performing the observed or imagined movements. However, it remained unclear whether spinal reflexes modulate multiple muscles simultaneously. The present study focused on AO and MI of walking and aimed to clarify their effects on spinal reflexes in lower-limb muscles that are recruited during actual walking. Ten healthy males participated in the present study. Spinal reflex parameters evoked by transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation were measured from five lower-limb muscles during rest, AO, and AO combined with MI (AO + MI) conditions. Our results showed that spinal reflexes were increased in the tibialis anterior and biceps femoris muscles during AO and in the tibialis anterior, soleus, and medial gastrocnemius muscles during AO + MI, compared with resting condition. Spinal reflex parameters in the vastus medialis muscle were unchanged. These results indicate the muscle-specific modulations of spinal reflexes during AO and AO + MI. These findings reveal the underlying neural activities induced by AO, MI, and their combined processes.
动作观察（AO）和运动想象（MI）是神经康复中的有用技术。先前的研究报告称，AO和MI仅在实际执行观察或想象的动作时活跃的那些肌肉中促进皮质脊髓兴奋性。然而，尚不清楚脊髓反射是否同时调节多块肌肉。本研究聚焦于步行的AO和MI，并旨在阐明它们对实际步行过程中募集的下肢肌肉的脊髓反射的影响。十名健康男性参与了本研究。在静息、AO以及AO与MI联合（AO + MI）条件下，从五块下肢肌肉测量经皮脊髓刺激诱发的脊髓反射参数。我们的结果显示，与静息状态相比，在AO期间胫骨前肌和股二头肌的脊髓反射增强，在AO + MI期间胫骨前肌、比目鱼肌和腓肠肌内侧头的脊髓反射增强。股内侧肌的脊髓反射参数未改变。这些结果表明在AO和AO + MI期间脊髓反射的肌肉特异性调节。这些发现揭示了由AO、MI及其联合过程诱导的潜在神经活动。
