Handedness effects on motor imagery during kinesthetic and visual-motor conditions

Abstract

Recent studies show that during a simple movement imagery task, the power of sensorimotor rhythms differs according to handedness. However, the effects of motor imagery perspectives on these differences have not been investigated yet. Our study aimed to check how handedness impacts the activity of alpha (8–13 Hz) and beta (15–30 Hz) oscillations during creating a kinesthetic (KMI) or visual-motor (VMI) representation of movement. Forty subjects (20 right-handed and 20 left-handed) who participated in the experiment were tasked with imagining sequential finger movement from a visual or kinesthetic perspective. Both the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and behavioral correctness of the imagery task performance were measured. After the registration, we used independent component analysis (ICA) on EEG data to localize visual- and motor-related EEG sources of activity shared by both motor imagery conditions. Significant differences were obtained in the visual cortex (the occipital ICs cluster) and the right motor-related area (right parietal ICs cluster). In comparison to right-handers who, regardless of the task, demonstrated the same pattern in the visual area, left-handers obtained higher power in the alpha waves in the VMI task and better performance in this condition. On the other hand, only the right-handed showed different patterns in the alpha waves in the right motor cortex during the KMI condition. The results indicate that left-handers imagine movement differently than right-handers, focusing on visual experience. This provides new empirical evidence on the influence of movement preferences on imagery processes and has possible future implications for research in the area of neurorehabilitation and motor imagery-based brain–computer interfaces (MI-BCIs).

Exploring the influence of personal factors on physiological responses to mental imagery in sport

“…In his bioinformational theory, Lang 4 – 6 emphasized the role of stimuli, that is, characteristics of the imagined situation (e.g., starting in a competition), in eliciting certain physiological responses such as increased heart rate or skin conductance level (SCL) in individuals. This autonomic response 2 depends on the activation of coded information stored in long-term memory, where abstract units of information organized into three categories of information are stored (i.e., stimulus, response and meaning propositions). Among the possible predictors of the level of psychophysiological changes during imagery 7 we can list factors like individual higher levels of imagery ability or the extent to which scenes are personally relevant and known to the subject, as well as an image script of the situation and direct instructions to experience the image physiologically.…”

“…Imagery is a multimodal cognitive simulation process that enables us to represent perceptual information in our minds in the absence of actual sensory input. It is also a well-known technique in mental training that, aside from its behavioral effect on performance, can also influence physiological arousal [1][2][3] . In his bioinformational theory, Lang [4][5][6] emphasized the role of stimuli, that is, characteristics of the imagined situation (e.g., starting in a competition), in eliciting certain physiological responses such as increased heart rate or skin conductance level (SCL) in individuals.…”

Handedness effects on imagery of dominant‐ versus non‐dominant‐hand movements: An electroencephalographic investigation

“…A follow up study by Zapała et al (2021) further examined handedness effects on modality use during motor imagery. Participants were instructed to imagine a sequence of finger tapping movements using either the visual or kinaesthetic modality.…”

“…Neural oscillations measured using electroencephalography (EEG) have been identified as putative neural markers for the visual and kinaesthetic modalities g(Neuper et al, 2005). The visual modality is accompanied by increased activity in the alpha rhythm (8–14 Hz) at the occipital regions of the brain (Bartsch et al, 2015; Chholak et al, 2019; Neuper et al, 2005; Zapała et al, 2021). Alpha is prominently viewed as an inhibitory rhythm, and this increase in the rhythm's activity may reflect the top‐down inhibition of external sensory information during tasks that require an internal direction of attention (Bartsch et al, 2015; Cooper et al, 2003; Klimesch et al, 2007).…”

Comparing laterality and handedness between successful male and female athletes and ordinary population

“…This characteristic, despite seeming so obvious, is among unknown aspects of human motor function. Although the majority of experts believe that handedness originates in differences in the neural control of each hand, the precise mechanism responsible for differences in handedness is still disputable (1).…”