CONGRUENT UNILATERAL IMPAIRMENTS FOR REAL AND IMAGINED HAND MOVEMENTS

Citation
A. Sirigu et al., CONGRUENT UNILATERAL IMPAIRMENTS FOR REAL AND IMAGINED HAND MOVEMENTS, NeuroReport, 6(7), 1995, pp. 997-1001
Citations number
9
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences
Journal title
ISSN journal
09594965
Volume
6
Issue
7
Year of publication
1995
Pages
997 - 1001
Database
ISI
SICI code
0959-4965(1995)6:7<997:CUIFRA>2.0.ZU;2-U
Abstract
THE chronometry of imagined and actual movements was investigated in a patient with a unilateral lesion of the motor cortex. Motor imagery g enerated highly accurate estimates of motor performance in a variety o f situations, reflecting the hypokinesia of the contralesional hand. T here were parallel increases in mental and actual movement times from proximal to distal limb segments. Bimanual movements adopted the slowe r speed of the impaired hand in both conditions. Imagined motor sequen ces to the beat of a metronome predicted the maximum speed reached in actual performance. Finally, visually guided pointing showed the same target-size effects in the imagery and movement conditions. The result s are in agreement with the hypothesis that common cerebral motor repr esentations are activated when imaging and planning voluntary movement s.