Motor imagery in response to fake feedback measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

The objective of this study was to describe brain oxygenation patterns during motor imagery (MI) in response to feedback using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). fNIRS was recorded over the primary motor cortex in 15 healthy subjects using a right hand motor task during four fake feedback conditions: MI without feedback (MI(0)), MI with positive (MI(+)) and negative feedback (MI(-)) and during actual movement execution (ME) as control task. Behavioral data were collected using the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) and The Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ-10). We observed inter-condition differences and inter-subject variability in signal amplitude with larger O(2)Hb concentration changes both in response to MI(+) (0.154 +/- 0.067 mu M) and MI(-) (0.129 +/- 0.074 mu M) as compared to MI(0) (0.109 +/- 0.024 mu M) and ME (0.210 +/- 0.013 mu M). We present fNIRS data of MI performance in response to different feedback conditions indicating that there exist distinct oxygenation patterns. These data may contribute to the development of fNIRS controlled feedback systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.