Target-directed motor imagery of the lower limb enhances event-related desynchronization

Kitahara, K., Hayashi, Y. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9207-6322, Yano, S. and Kondo, T. (2017) Target-directed motor imagery of the lower limb enhances event-related desynchronization. PLoS ONE, 12 (9). e0184245. ISSN 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184245

Abstract/Summary

Event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/S) is an electroencephalogram (EEG) feature widely used as control signals for Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Never- theless, the underlying neural mechanisms and functions of ERD/S are largely unknown, thus investigating them is crucial to improve the reliability of ERD/S-based BCIs. This study aimed to identify Motor Imagery (MI) conditions that enhance ERD/S. We investigated fol- lowing three questions: 1) whether target-directed MI affects ERD/S, 2) whether MI with sound imagery affects ERD/S, and 3) whether ERD/S has a body part dependency of MI. Nine participants took part in the experiments of four MI conditions; they were asked to imagine right foot dorsiflexion (F), right foot dorsiflexion and the sound of a bass drum when the sole touched the floor (FS), right leg extension (L), and right leg extension directed toward a soccer ball (LT). Statistical comparison revealed that there were significant differ- ences between conditions L and LT in beta-band ERD and conditions F and L in beta-band ERS. These results suggest that mental rehearsal of target-directed lower limb movement without real sensory stimuli can enhance beta-band ERD; furthermore, MI of foot dorsiflex- ion induces significantly larger beta-band ERS than that of leg extension. These findings could be exploited for the training of BCIs such as powered prosthetics for disabled person and neurorehabilitation system for stroke patients.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/73128
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Biomedical Sciences Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Department of Bio-Engineering
Publisher	Public Library of Science
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