Mirror visual feedback-induced performance improvement and the influence of hand dominance

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Arno eVillringer¹  Viola eRjosk²  Elisabeth eKaminski²  Bernhard eSehm²  Christopher J Steele³  Maike eHoff⁴  Patrick eRagert⁴ 

[1] Charite and Humboldt University;Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences Leipzig;McGill University;University of Leipzig;

关键词: handedness;    motor learning;    motor skill learning;    hand dominance;    Mirror visual feedback (MVF);   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnhum.2015.00702

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Mirror Visual Feedback (MVF) is a promising technique in clinical settings that can be used to augment performance of an untrained limb. Several studies with healthy volunteers and patients using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) indicate that functional alterations within primary motor cortex (M1) might be one candidate mechanism that could explain MVF-induced changes in behavior. Until now, most studies have used MVF to improve performance of the non-dominant hand. The question remains if the behavioural effect of MVF differs according to hand dominance. Here, we conducted a study with two groups of young, healthy right-handed volunteers who performed a complex ball-rotation task while receiving MVF of the dominant (n = 16, group 1, MVFDH) or non-dominant hand (n = 16, group 2, MVFNDH). We found no significant differences in baseline performance of the untrained hand between groups before MVF was applied. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the amount of performance improvement between MVFDH and MVFNDH indicating that the outcome of MVF seems not to be influenced by hand dominance. Thus our findings might have important implications in neurorehabilitation suggesting that patients suffering from unilateral motor impairments might benefit from MVF regardless of the dominance of the affected limb.

【 授权许可】

Unknown