Abstract
Motor imagery (MI) is usually facilitated when performed in a congruent body position to the imagined movement, as well as after actual execution (AE). A lower-limb amputation (LLA) results in important structural and functional changes in the sensorimotor system, which can alter MI. In this study, we investigated the effects of body position and AE on the temporal characteristics of MI in people with LLA. Ten participants with LLA (mean age = 59.6 ± 13.9 years, four females) and ten gender- and age-matched healthy control participants (mean age = 60.1 ± 15.4 years, four females) were included. They performed two locomotor-related tasks (a walking task and the Timed Up and Go task) while MI times were measured in different conditions (in congruent/incongruent positions and before/after AE). We showed that MI times were significantly shorter when participants imagined walking in a congruent-standing position compared to an incongruent-sitting position, and when performing MI after actual walking compared to before, in both groups. Shorter MI times in the congruent position and after AE suggest an improvement of MI’s temporal accuracy (i.e. the ability to match AE time during MI) in healthy individuals but not in the LLA group.
Highlights
Motor imagery (MI) is usually facilitated when performed in a congruent body position to the imagined movement, as well as after actual execution (AE)
A few studies have tried to disentangle whether changes in MI ability occur after a lower-limb amputation (LLA) despite the critical structural and functional alterations occurring in the sensorimotor system after LLA and the potential for MI training in this p opulation[13,14]
In this study we investigated the effects of body position and movement’s AE on the temporal characteristics of MI in people with LLA
Summary
Motor imagery (MI) is usually facilitated when performed in a congruent body position to the imagined movement, as well as after actual execution (AE). After locomotor prosthetic training, people with LLA may have refined their internal models (altered by the amputation) in long-term procedural memory through many trials and errors, which, in turn, may have enhanced the accuracy of MI Other factors, such as body position during MI and the movement being executed or not before MI, can influence MI in healthy adults. In younger and older adults, Saimpont et al.[31] showed that imagined walking times are shorter when MI is performed in a congruent position (i.e. standing) rather than in an incongruent one (i.e. sitting), revealing that the MI of locomotor-related movements may be influenced by body position These results fit with the theory of internal models, which are thought to take into account the ongoing flow of sensory information from the body segments to generate their p redictions[17]. To the impact of motor experience, prior AE may help to refine the motor predictions used for MI by improving their accuracy, in short-term memory in this case
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