The association between brain activity and motor imagery during motor illusion induction by vibratory stimulation

BACKGROUND: The association between motor imagery ability and brain neural activity that leads to the manifestation of a motor illusion remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined the association between the ability to generate motor imagery and brain neural activity leading to the induction of a motor illusion by vibratory stimulation. METHODS: The sample consisted of 20 healthy individuals who did not have movement or sensory disorders. We measured the time between the starting and ending points of a motor illusion (the time to illusion induction, TII) and performed electroencephalography (EEG). We conducted a temporo-spatial analysis on brain activity leading to the induction of motor illusions using the EEG microstate segmentation method. Additionally, we assessed the ability to generate motor imagery using the Japanese version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised (JMIQ-R) prior to performing the task and examined the associations among brain neural activity levels as identified by microstate segmentation method, TII, and the JMIQ-R scores. RESULTS: The results showed four typical microstates during TII and significantly higher neural activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, primary sensorimotor area, supplementary motor area (SMA), and inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Moreover, there were significant negative correlations between the neural activity of the primary motor cortex (MI), SMA, IPL, and TII, and a significant positive correlation between the neural activity of the SMA and the JMIQ-R scores. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the possibility that a neural network primarily comprised of the neural activity of SMA and M1, which are involved in generating motor imagery, may be the neural basis for inducing motor illusions. This may aid in creating a new approach to neurorehabilitation that enables a more robust reorganization of the neural base for patients with brain dysfunction with a motor function disorder.