Benefits of motor imagery practice during arm-immobilization on the sensorimotor cortical networks and sleep features release_rktdtbqq7jetrdvnifhtdhif3a

by Ursula Debarnot, Aurore A. Perrault, Virginie Sterpenich, Guillaume Legendre, Chieko Huber, Aymeric Guillot, Sophie Schwartz

Released as a post by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

2019  

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>Limb disuse has overt substantial measurable maladaptive consequences, which are reinforced during the sleep consolidation process, hence highlighting that a continuous stream of sensory inputs and motor outputs are necessary for the maintenance of intact brain organization. Motor Imagery (MI), which corresponds to the mental representation of movement without its actual execution, is known to significantly activate motor networks, even when overt movement are no longer possible. Whether MI might rapidly compensate the maladaptive neuroplasticity elicited by immobilization remains however a working hypothesis, which has received far less attention. Here, we investigated the potential benefits of MI practice during 12 hr of unilateral arm-immobilization on the sensorimotor and cortical representations of the arms, as well as during subsequent sleep. Using a within-subject design, fourteen participants were first tested after a normal day of motor activity (without immobilization, NoImmo), followed by two randomized 12 hr conditions separated by 1 week, whereby their right (dominant) arm was immobilized either with MI practice 15 min every two hours (ImMI), or without MI (ImCtrl). After each daytime condition, participants were tested on a hand laterality judgment task to assess changes in the sensorimotor representation of the hands, followed by the measure of cortical excitability over both primary motor cortices (M<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>). Polysomnography recordings were also monitored overnight to investigate the sleep-related consolidation effects. Data revealed that MI practice prevented <jats:italic>i</jats:italic>) the slow-down in the sensorimotor representation of hands, <jats:italic>ii</jats:italic>) the cortical excitability depression over the M<jats:sub>1</jats:sub> contralateral to arm-immobilization, <jats:italic>iii</jats:italic>) the sleep spindles reduction over both M<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>s, and <jats:italic>iv</jats:italic>) extended the time spent in REM sleep. Altogether, these results provide strong evidence that implementing MI within the context of limb-immobilization contributes to substantially limit the deleterious effect of disuse, and may further promote recovery of motor function.<jats:sec><jats:title>Highlights</jats:title><jats:list list-type="bullet"><jats:list-item>MI prevents impaired sensorimotor representation caused by immobilization</jats:list-item><jats:list-item>M<jats:sub>1</jats:sub> excitability contralateral to immobilization is preserved with mental practice</jats:list-item><jats:list-item>REM sleep duration is prolonged following MI practice</jats:list-item><jats:list-item>The impact of immobilization on spindles occurrence over both M<jats:sub>1</jats:sub>s is counteracted by MI practice</jats:list-item></jats:list></jats:sec>
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Date   2019-11-02
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