Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2006):

Cerebral processes during visuo-motor imagery of hands.

Full Abstract

We investigated the role of cerebral motor structures during mental hand rotation. Neural activity was measured with event-related potentials (ERPs) in 16 healthy participants while they performed handedness judgments of visually presented hands. Mental rotation was associated with ERP amplitude modulations as early as 170 ms but most strongly during a time window of about 600-800 ms. Source analysis of ERPs during these time windows indicated generators in bilateral extrastriate and parietal cortices. The results do not support a direct involvement of anterior motor cortices in the neural computations underlying mental rotation. However, motor regions may play a role in providing ongoing kinaesthetic feedback during mental rotation or in checking the results of the imagined transformation.

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Author information

Author/s: Thayer, Zoë C (ZC); Johnson, Blake W (BW);

Affiliation: Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychophysiology (Psychophysiology), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 43 (issue 4) : pp 401-12

Dates: Created 2006/08/18; Completed 2006/11/07; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16916437, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Brain - physiology Brain Mapping Electroencephalography Evoked Potentials - physiology Female Hand Humans

Humans Imagination - physiology Male Motor Cortex - physiology Psychomotor Performance - physiology Reaction Time - physiology Rotation Visual Perception - physiology

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