Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Graduate School of Kansai University of Health Sciences, Osaka, Japan.
Muscle Nerve. 2024 May;69(5):643-646. doi: 10.1002/mus.28082. Epub 2024 Mar 15.
INTRODUCTION/AIMS: Mental rotation (MR), a tool of implicit motor imagery, is the ability to rotate mental representations of two- or three-dimensional objects. Although many reports have described changes in brain activity during MR tasks, it is not clear whether the excitability of anterior horn cells in the spinal cord can be changed. In this study, we examined whether MR tasks of hand images affect the excitability of anterior horn cells using F-wave analysis.
Right-handed, healthy participants were recruited for this study. F-waves of the right abductor pollicis brevis were recorded after stimulation of the right median nerve at rest, during a non-MR task, and during an MR task. The F-wave persistence and the F/M amplitude ratio were calculated and analyzed.
Twenty participants (11 men and 9 women; mean age, 29.2 ± 4.4 years) were initially recruited, and data from the 18 that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The F-wave persistence was significantly higher in the MR task than in the resting condition (p = .001) or the non-MR task (p = .012). The F/M amplitude ratio was significantly higher in the MR task than in the resting condition (p = .019).
The MR task increases the excitability of anterior horn cells corresponding to the same body part. MR tasks may have the potential for improving motor function in patients with reduced excitability of the anterior horn cells, although this methodology must be further verified in a clinical setting.
简介/目的：心理旋转（MR）是一种内隐运动意象的工具，指的是旋转二维或三维物体的心理表象的能力。尽管许多报告描述了在进行 MR 任务期间大脑活动的变化，但尚不清楚脊髓前角细胞的兴奋性是否可以改变。在这项研究中，我们使用 F 波分析来检查手部图像的 MR 任务是否会影响前角细胞的兴奋性。
本研究招募了右利手、健康的参与者。在休息时、进行非 MR 任务时和进行 MR 任务时，记录右侧正中神经刺激后的右侧拇短展肌 F 波。计算并分析 F 波潜伏期和 F/M 波幅比。
最初招募了 20 名参与者（11 名男性和 9 名女性；平均年龄 29.2±4.4 岁），并对符合纳入标准的 18 名参与者的数据进行了分析。MR 任务时的 F 波潜伏期明显高于休息状态（p=0.001）或非 MR 任务（p=0.012）时。MR 任务时的 F/M 波幅比明显高于休息状态（p=0.019）。
MR 任务增加了与同一身体部位相对应的前角细胞的兴奋性。MR 任务可能具有改善前角细胞兴奋性降低的患者运动功能的潜力，尽管这种方法必须在临床环境中进一步验证。
