Effects of visual-motor illusion on functional connectivity during motor imagery

This study aimed to verify whether visual-motor illusion changes the functional connectivity during kinesthetic motor imagery and the vividness of kinesthetic motor imagery. Twelve right-handed healthy adults participated in this study. All participants randomly performed both the illusion and observation conditions in 20 min, respectively. Illusion condition was induced kinesthetic illusion by viewing own finger movement video. Observation condition was observed own finger movement video. Before and after each condition, the brain activity of kinesthetic motor imagery was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The measure of brain activity under kinesthetic motor imagery was executed in five sets using block design. Under the kinesthetic motor imagery, participants were asked to imagine the movement of their right finger. Functional connectivity was analyzed during the kinesthetic motor imagery. In addition, after performing the task under kinesthetic motor imagery, the vividness of the kinesthetic motor imagery was measured using a visual analog scale. Furthermore, after each condition, the degree of kinesthetic illusion and sense of body ownership measured based on a seven-point Likert scale. Our results indicated that the functional connectivity during kinesthetic motor imagery was changed in the frontal-parietal network of the right hemisphere. The vividness of the kinesthetic motor imagery was significantly higher with the illusion condition compared with the observation condition. The degree of kinesthetic illusion and sense of body ownership were significantly higher with the illusion condition compared with the observation condition. In conclusion, the visual-motor illusion changes the functional connectivity during kinesthetic motor imagery and influences the vividness of kinesthetic motor imagery. The visual-motor illusion provides evidence that it improves motor imagery ability. VMI may be used in patients with impaired motor imagery.