Motor imagery of voluntary muscle relaxation induces temporal reduction of corticospinal excitability

Kouki Kato; Jun Watanabe; Tetsuro Muraoka; Kazuyuki Kanosue

doi:10.1016/j.neures.2014.10.013

Motor imagery of voluntary muscle relaxation induces temporal reduction of corticospinal excitability

Kouki Kato^*, Jun Watanabe, Tetsuro Muraoka, Kazuyuki Kanosue

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Sport Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Voluntary muscle relaxation is an "active process" requiring cortical activation. However, cortical activation during motor imagery of muscle relaxation has not been well understood. The purpose of this study was to clarify time-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability during the imagery of muscle relaxation. Ten participants imagined volitional muscle relaxation from an imagined pinching with their right index finger and thumb in response to an auditory cue. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied at the left primary motor area of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle at different time intervals after the auditory cue. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right hand and forearm muscles. The MEP amplitudes of the FDI and the synergist temporally decreased after the auditory cue as compared with those present in the resting condition. Our finding indicates that motor imagery of muscle relaxation induces a temporal reduction of the corticospinal excitability related to the targeted muscle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	39-45
Number of pages	7
Journal	Neuroscience Research
Volume	92
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neures.2014.10.013
Publication status	Published - 2015 Mar 1

Keywords

Inhibition
MEP
Motor imagery
Relaxation
TMS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neuroscience(all)

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10.1016/j.neures.2014.10.013

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title = "Motor imagery of voluntary muscle relaxation induces temporal reduction of corticospinal excitability",

abstract = "Voluntary muscle relaxation is an {"}active process{"} requiring cortical activation. However, cortical activation during motor imagery of muscle relaxation has not been well understood. The purpose of this study was to clarify time-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability during the imagery of muscle relaxation. Ten participants imagined volitional muscle relaxation from an imagined pinching with their right index finger and thumb in response to an auditory cue. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied at the left primary motor area of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle at different time intervals after the auditory cue. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right hand and forearm muscles. The MEP amplitudes of the FDI and the synergist temporally decreased after the auditory cue as compared with those present in the resting condition. Our finding indicates that motor imagery of muscle relaxation induces a temporal reduction of the corticospinal excitability related to the targeted muscle.",

keywords = "Inhibition, MEP, Motor imagery, Relaxation, TMS",

author = "Kouki Kato and Jun Watanabe and Tetsuro Muraoka and Kazuyuki Kanosue",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Dr. Larry Crawshaw for English editing. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for the Global COE “Sport Sciences for the Promotion of Active Life”, Waseda University, from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant No. 24300209 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society.",

year = "2015",

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doi = "10.1016/j.neures.2014.10.013",

language = "English",

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AU - Kato, Kouki

AU - Watanabe, Jun

AU - Muraoka, Tetsuro

AU - Kanosue, Kazuyuki

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank Dr. Larry Crawshaw for English editing. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for the Global COE “Sport Sciences for the Promotion of Active Life”, Waseda University, from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant No. 24300209 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society.

PY - 2015/3/1

Y1 - 2015/3/1

N2 - Voluntary muscle relaxation is an "active process" requiring cortical activation. However, cortical activation during motor imagery of muscle relaxation has not been well understood. The purpose of this study was to clarify time-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability during the imagery of muscle relaxation. Ten participants imagined volitional muscle relaxation from an imagined pinching with their right index finger and thumb in response to an auditory cue. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied at the left primary motor area of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle at different time intervals after the auditory cue. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right hand and forearm muscles. The MEP amplitudes of the FDI and the synergist temporally decreased after the auditory cue as compared with those present in the resting condition. Our finding indicates that motor imagery of muscle relaxation induces a temporal reduction of the corticospinal excitability related to the targeted muscle.

AB - Voluntary muscle relaxation is an "active process" requiring cortical activation. However, cortical activation during motor imagery of muscle relaxation has not been well understood. The purpose of this study was to clarify time-dependent changes in corticospinal excitability during the imagery of muscle relaxation. Ten participants imagined volitional muscle relaxation from an imagined pinching with their right index finger and thumb in response to an auditory cue. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied at the left primary motor area of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle at different time intervals after the auditory cue. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right hand and forearm muscles. The MEP amplitudes of the FDI and the synergist temporally decreased after the auditory cue as compared with those present in the resting condition. Our finding indicates that motor imagery of muscle relaxation induces a temporal reduction of the corticospinal excitability related to the targeted muscle.

KW - Inhibition

KW - MEP

KW - Motor imagery

KW - Relaxation

KW - TMS

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Motor imagery of voluntary muscle relaxation induces temporal reduction of corticospinal excitability

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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