Abstract
ObjectiveDuring motor execution (ME), mu power is diminished over the contralateral hemisphere and increased over the ipsilateral hemisphere, which has been associated with cortical activation of the contralateral motor areas and inhibition of the ipsilateral motor areas respectively. The influence of action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) on mu power is less clear, especially in children, and remains to be studied in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (uCP). MethodsWe determined mu power during ME, AO, and MI of 45 typically developing (TD) children and 15 children with uCP over both hemispheres, for each hand. ResultsIn TD children, over the left hemisphere mu power was lowered during ME when the right hand was used. In line, over the right hemisphere mu power was lowered when the left hand was addressed. In addition, during AO and MI increased mu power was observed when the right hand was addressed. In children with uCP, over the spared hemisphere mu power was diminished during ME when the less-affected hand was used. However, over the lesioned hemisphere, no mu changes were observed. ConclusionsThe results of TD children fit the activation/inhibition model of mu power. SignificanceThe results of children with uCP suggest that the lesioned hemisphere is unresponsive to the motor tasks.
Highlights
Action observation (AO), i.e. observing an action that is performed by another person, plays an important role in imitation learning since it appears to facilitate the acquisition of novel motor behaviors (Marshall and Meltzoff, 2011; Sarasso et al, 2015)
In addition to the measurements in typically developing (TD) children, we studied the mu power in 15 children with unilateral cerebral palsy
As there is a lack of understanding of the lateralized mu effects associated with action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI), we will discuss our main findings within the framework of the proposed model of local excitation of the contralateral motor areas and global inhibition of the associated ipsilateral motor areas
Summary
Action observation (AO), i.e. observing an action that is performed by another person, plays an important role in imitation learning since it appears to facilitate the acquisition of novel motor behaviors (Marshall and Meltzoff, 2011; Sarasso et al, 2015). Another covert approach for motor learning is motor imagery (MI) i.e. internally simulating a movement without the actual execution of that movement (Johnson, 2000; Mutsaarts et al, 2006).
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