Sasaki Anri, Suzuki Eizaburo, Homma Kotaro, Mura Nariyuki, Suzuki Katsuhiko
Department of Rehabilitation, Ishinomaki Loyal Hospital, Ishinomaki 987-1222, Japan.
Department of Physical Therapy, Yamagata Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Yamagata 990-2212, Japan.
Brain Sci. 2025 Apr 27;15(5):457. doi: 10.3390/brainsci15050457.
Action observation therapy (AOT) has gained attention as a rehabilitation method for motor function recovery following nerve injury. Although the total observation time and daily session duration have been studied, the effective observation duration per trial remains unclear. This study examined the effect of different observation durations on manual dexterity, mirror neuron system activity, and subjective psychomotor effort in healthy adults. Twenty-four healthy right-handed adults participated in this crossover study under four conditions: observing ball rotations with the dominant hand for one, two, or three minutes, or geometric patterns (control) for two minutes. The outcomes included maximum rotations and errors by both hands during a ball rotation task and interpersonal motor resonance (IMR), indicating mirror neuron system activity. These measures were compared before and after intervention. Subjective ratings of concentration, physical fatigue, and mental fatigue were assessed post-intervention. Rotation performance significantly increased for the intervention hand after a 2 min observation and showed a notable effect ( = 0.113, r = 0.48) for the non-intervention hand after a 3 min observation compared to the control. The IMR was significantly greater during the 2 min observation than in the control. Compared to the 1 min observation, the 2 min and 3 min observations resulted in higher mental fatigue, and the 3 min observation showed lower concentration levels. These findings indicate that the observation duration has varying effects on manual dexterity and mirror neuron system activity, with optimal effects observed at specific time intervals while also highlighting the relationship between observational learning and psychomotor effort.
动作观察疗法（AOT）作为一种神经损伤后运动功能恢复的康复方法已受到关注。尽管已经对总观察时间和每日疗程时长进行了研究，但每次试验的有效观察时长仍不明确。本研究考察了不同观察时长对健康成年人手动灵巧性、镜像神经元系统活动及主观心理运动努力的影响。24名健康的右利手成年人参与了这项交叉研究，研究设置了四种条件：用优势手观察球旋转1分钟、2分钟或3分钟，或观察几何图案（对照组）2分钟。结果包括球旋转任务中双手的最大旋转次数和错误次数，以及人际运动共鸣（IMR），后者表明镜像神经元系统的活动。在干预前后对这些指标进行了比较。干预后评估了注意力、身体疲劳和精神疲劳的主观评分。与对照组相比，干预手在观察2分钟后旋转表现显著提高，非干预手在观察3分钟后显示出显著效果（ = 0.113，r = 0.48）。2分钟观察期间的IMR显著高于对照组。与1分钟观察相比，2分钟和3分钟观察导致更高的精神疲劳，3分钟观察显示注意力水平较低。这些发现表明，观察时长对手动灵巧性和镜像神经元系统活动有不同影响，在特定时间间隔观察效果最佳，同时也突出了观察学习与心理运动努力之间的关系。
