title: Neurophysiological correlates of visuo-motor learning through mental and physical practice.
abstract: We have previously shown that mental rehearsal can replace up to 75% of physical practice for learning a visuomotor task (Allami, Paulignan, Brovelli, & Boussaoud, (2008). Experimental Brain Research, 184, 105-113). Presumably, mental rehearsal must induce brain changes that facilitate motor learning. We tested this hypothesis by recording scalp electroencephalographic activity (EEG) in two groups of subjects. In one group, subjects executed a reach to grasp task for 240 trials. In the second group, subjects learned the task through a combination of mental rehearsal for the initial 180 trials followed by the execution of 60 trials. Thus, one group physically executed the task for 240 trials, the other only for 60 trials. Amplitudes and latencies of event-related potentials (ERPs) were compared across groups at different stages during learning. We found that ERP activity increases dramatically with training and reaches the same amplitude over the premotor regions in the two groups, despite large differences in physically executed trials. These findings suggest that during mental rehearsal, neuronal changes occur in the motor networks that make physical practice after mental rehearsal more effective in configuring functional networks for skilful behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory on Language, the Brain and Cognition (L2C2), UMR5304, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, 67, Bd Pinel-69675 Bron Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Allami
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone (INT), UMR 7289 CNRS, Aix Marseille University, Campus de Santé Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brovelli
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Informatique, Mathematiques Appliquées, Intelligence Artificielle et Reconnaissance de Formes-LIMIARF, Université Mohammed V-Agdal, Faculté des Sciences, Rabat, Maroc.
authors.forename: El Mehdi
authors.initials: el M
authors.lastname: Hamzaoui
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Informatique, Mathematiques Appliquées, Intelligence Artificielle et Reconnaissance de Formes-LIMIARF, Université Mohammed V-Agdal, Faculté des Sciences, Rabat, Maroc.
authors.forename: Fakhita
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Regragui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory on Language, the Brain and Cognition (L2C2), UMR5304, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, 67, Bd Pinel-69675 Bron Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Paulignan
authors.affiliation: Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS), UMR 1106 INSERM, Aix Marseille University, Campus de Santé Timone, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille, France. Electronic address: driss.boussaoud@univ-amu.fr.
authors.forename: Driss
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boussaoud
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: EEG; Mental imagery; Motor learning; Neuroplasticity