Effect of motor imagery on excitability of spinal neural function and its impact on the accuracy of movement-considering the point at which subjects subjectively determine the 50%MVC point.
Yuki Fukumoto, Yoshibumi Bunno, Toshiaki Suzuki
PMID 28174464WHAT IT FOUND
In 30 healthy people, imagining a 50% pinch contraction did not improve actual pinch force accuracy.
It did increase a spinal nerve response.
Key findings
01Motor imagery did not significantly change correction time or coefficient of variation for pinch force accuracy.
02Motor imagery raised F-wave persistence compared with rest and with holding the sensor.
03In the without-motor-imagery group, F-wave persistence was higher with sensor holding than at rest, but did not differ between sensor holding and the without-motor-imagery condition.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 30 healthy adults were studied, so the findings may not apply to patients with movement disorders. The task was a brief laboratory pinch force test, not a functional hand or limb task. F-wave persistence and amplitude ratio are nerve response measures, not direct measures of clinical movement quality. The accuracy outcomes showed no significant difference, so the study did not show that motor imagery improves actual pinch force control. The authors mention nine subjects whose task 2 pinch force more closely approximated 50%MVC, but the group analysis did not show improvement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that motor imagery improves pinch force accuracy because it increased F-wave persistence. The correction time and coefficient of variation did not differ before and after motor imagery in either group.