Cerebral correlates of motor imagery of normal and precision gait.

Full Abstract

We have examined the cerebral structures involved in motor imagery of normal and precision gait (i.e., gait requiring precise foot placement and increased postural control). We recorded cerebral activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while subjects imagined walking along paths of two different widths (broad, narrow) that required either normal gait, or exact foot placement and increased postural control. We used a matched visual imagery (VI) task to assess the motor specificity of the effects, and monitored task performance by recording imagery times, eye movements, and electromyography during scanning. In addition, we assessed the effector specificity of MI of gait by comparing our results with those of a previous study on MI of hand movements. We found that imagery times were longer for the narrow path during MI, but not during VI, suggesting that MI was sensitive to the constraints imposed by a narrow walking path. Moreover, MI of precision gait resulted in increased cerebral activity and effective connectivity within a network involving the superior parietal lobules, the dorsal precentral gyri, and the right middle occipital gyrus. Finally, the cerebral responses to MI of gait were contiguous to but spatially distinct from regions involved in MI of hand movements. These results emphasize the role of cortical structures outside primary motor regions in imagining locomotion movements when accurate foot positioning and increased postural control is required.

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Author information

Author/s: Bakker, M (M); De Lange, F P (FP); Helmich, R C (RC); Scheeringa, R (R); Bloem, B R (BR); Toni, I (I);

Affiliation: FC Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Journal and publication information

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

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

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 41 (issue 3) : pp 998-1010

Dates: Created 2008/06/02; Completed 2008/08/14;

PMID: 18455930, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Electromyography
Gait - physiology
Humans

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Imagination - physiology
Leg - physiology
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology

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