Effect of Kinesthetic Motor Imagery on Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, and Skin Resistance

Summary

Motor Imagery (MI) is defined as imagining an action in the mind without any explicit physical movement. MI is considered an "offline" process of the motor areas of the brain. Neuroimaging studies have shown that roughly the same neural structures play a role both during movement execution and MI. Specifically, these neural structures; supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC), and in a growing number of studies, primary motor cortex (M1), inferior parietal lobe (IPL), basal ganglia, and cerebellum. In MI, the changes occurring in the Central Nervous System (CNS), such as the activation of the structures responsible for planning the movement and the purpose for which the movement will be performed, are similar to physical movement, but with the inhibition of the last motor neuron (primary motor area) responsible for revealing the movement, the movement is not physically performed and the motor visualization occurs.

During motor imagery, monitoring the quality of the individual's imagery session is very important for the effectiveness of the session. Additionally, studies have shown that giving the subject biofeedback regarding mental work can modulate the individual's mental work. For these purposes, the quality of an individual's motor imagery during a motor imagery session can be measured by biological measurement methods such as fMRI and autonomic nervous system response. In studies conducted on the autonomic nervous system response, changes in skin resistance and heart rate variations were observed. However, these methods are very costly and cannot be accessed in every clinic. In the literature, the Polar HRV device for measuring heart rate variability is a measuring device with proven validity and reliability and is easily accessible in terms of cost. However, we do not yet know whether Polar HRV is a valid and reliable measurement tool to measure the quality of an individual's imagery session during a motor imagery session.

This study aims to determine the effects of the individual's autonomic nervous system during the kinesthetic motor imagery session. To measure the responses and to investigate whether the polar HRV device is a valid and reliable tool.

Conditions

• Healthy Individuals

Interventions

OTHER

Motor Imagery

After the measurement devices are connected to the individuals, they will be seated in a comfortable chair. After the calibration of the devices, individuals will undergo a 2-minute relaxation session. During the relaxation session, individuals will be asked to focus on their breathing and relax as much as possible. Then, heart rate variability, electrodermal activities and respiratory frequencies of the individuals will be measured in a sitting position for 5 minutes. In case of rest, after taking the variables, individuals will be kept to rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the devices will be placed on the individuals again and a 2-minute relaxation session will be held. Then, individuals will be asked to imagine running through kinesthetic imagery for 5 minutes. Feedback will be given to individuals throughout the entire session. These feedbacks will be given verbally with an audio recording prepared by the physiotherapist.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kutahya Health Sciences University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Meltem Işıntaş · Kutahya Health Sciences University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

SCREENING

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-04-29

Primary Completion

2024-08-08

Completion

2024-12-27

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations