title: Brain activity during motor imagery of an action with an object: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
abstract: We utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the brain regions activated during motor imagery of an action with an object both with and without passively holding the object. Participants performed the following tasks: (1) 'Imagery with Ball' condition: subjects imagined squeezing a foam ball (7cm diameter) while holding the ball, (2) 'Imagery' condition: subjects imagined squeezing a ball without holding the ball, and (3) 'Ball' condition: subjects held the ball without motor imagery. Regions activated by the 'Imagery with Ball' condition were located in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), supplemental motor areas (SMA), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), superior parietal lobule (SPL), insula, cerebellum and basal ganglia. A direct comparison revealed that the right DLPFC and the right IPL showed a higher level of activation during the 'Imagery with Ball' than during the 'Imagery'+'Ball' conditions. Our studies suggested that the right front-parietal networks were involved in the motor imagery of an action with an object.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-1192, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Takuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muraoka
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanosue
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult