Rannaud Monany Dylan, Lebon Florent, Dupont William, Papaxanthis Charalambos
INSERM UMR1093-CAPS, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UFR des Sciences du Sport, F-21000 Dijon, France.
iScience. 2022 May 13;25(6):104397. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104397. eCollection 2022 Jun 17.
Our brain has the extraordinary capacity to improve motor skills through mental practice. Conceptually, this ability is attributed to internal forward models, which are cerebellar neural networks that can predict the sensory consequences of motor commands. In our study, we employed single and dual-coil transcranial magnetic stimulations to probe the level of corticospinal excitability and cerebellar-brain inhibition, respectively, before and after a mental practice session or a control session. Motor skill (i.e., accuracy and speed) was measured using a sequential finger tapping-task. We found that mental practice enhanced both speed and accuracy. In parallel, the functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex changed, with less inhibition from the first to the second. These findings reveal the existence of neuroplastic changes within the cerebellum, supporting the involvement of internal models after mental practice.
我们的大脑具有通过心理练习提高运动技能的非凡能力。从概念上讲，这种能力归因于内部前向模型，它是小脑神经网络，可以预测运动指令的感觉后果。在我们的研究中，我们分别在心理练习阶段或对照阶段前后，采用单线圈和双线圈经颅磁刺激来探测皮质脊髓兴奋性水平和小脑-脑抑制。使用顺序手指敲击任务测量运动技能（即准确性和速度）。我们发现心理练习提高了速度和准确性。同时，小脑与初级运动皮层之间的功能连接发生了变化，从第一个到第二个的抑制作用减弱。这些发现揭示了小脑中存在神经可塑性变化，支持心理练习后内部模型的参与。
