Effects of movement congruence on motor resonance in early Parkinson’s disease

The observation of action seems to involve the generation of the internal representation of that same action in the observer, a process named motor resonance (MR). The objective of this study was to verify whether an experimental paradigm of action observation in a laboratory context could elicit cortical motor activation in 21 early Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients compared to 22 controls. Participants were instructed to simply observe (observation-only session) or to respond (Time-to-contact detection session) at the instant the agent performed a grasping action toward a graspable or ungraspable object. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy with 20 channels on the motor and premotor brain areas and event-related desynchronization of alpha-mu rhythm. In both groups, response times were more accurate in graspable than ungraspable object trials, suggesting that motor resonance is present in PD patients. In the Time-to-contact detection session, the oxyhemoglobin levels and alpha-mu desynchronization prevailed in the graspable object trials rather than in the ungraspable ones. This study demonstrates the preservation of MR mechanisms in early PD patients. The action observation finalized to a consequent movement can activate cortical networks in patients with early PD, suggesting early rehabilitation interventions taking into account specific observation paradigms preceding motor production.