title: Selective impairment of sensorimotor representations following short-term upper-limb immobilization.
abstract: In the present experiment, we examined whether short-term upper-limb immobilization would selectively affect the representation of the immobilized limb (using a hand laterality task) or whether the effect of immobilization would extend to another body part (using a foot laterality task). A rigid splint placed on the participants' left hand was used for immobilization. A control group did not undergo the immobilization procedure. We compared the participants' performances on the hand and foot laterality tasks before (T1) and after (T2) a 48-hour delay, corresponding to the immobilization period. For controls, response time analysis indicated a benefit of task repetition for the recognition of both hand and foot images. For the immobilized group, a slowdown of performance appeared in T2 for hand images, but not for foot images. The reduced benefit of task repetition following left-hand immobilization appeared for both the immobilized and non-immobilized hand images. These findings revealed that the general cognitive representation of upper-limb movements is affected by the decrease in input/output signal processing due to the left-hand immobilization, while the cognitive representation of lower-limb movements is not.
authors.affiliation: a Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage , CeRCA, CNRS/UMR 7295, Université de Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meugnot
authors.affiliation: a Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage , CeRCA, CNRS/UMR 7295, Université de Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Nounagnon Frutueux
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Agbangla
authors.affiliation: a Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage , CeRCA, CNRS/UMR 7295, Université de Poitiers , Poitiers , France.
authors.forename: Lucette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Toussaint
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology*; D019417:Hindlimb Suspension / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012399:Rotation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hand/foot laterality task; Implicit motor imagery; Limb immobilization; Sensorimotor representation