Improved motor imagery skills after repetitive passive somatosensory stimulation: a parallel-group, pre-registered study.

INTRODUCTION

Motor-imagery-based Brain-Machine Interface (MI-BMI) has been established as an effective treatment for post-stroke hemiplegia. However, the need for long-term intervention can represent a significant burden on patients. Here, we demonstrate that motor imagery (MI) instructions for BMI training, when supplemented with somatosensory stimulation in addition to conventional verbal instructions, can help enhance MI capabilities of healthy participants.

METHODS

Sixteen participants performed MI during scalp EEG signal acquisition before and after somatosensory stimulation to assess MI-induced cortical excitability, as measured using the event-related desynchronization (ERD) of the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR). The non-dominant left hand was subjected to neuromuscular electrical stimulation above the sensory threshold but below the motor threshold (St-NMES), along with passive movement stimulation using an exoskeleton. Participants were randomly divided into an intervention group, which received somatosensory stimulation, and a control group, which remained at rest without stimulation.

RESULTS

The intervention group exhibited a significant increase in SMR-ERD compared to the control group, indicating that somatosensory stimulation contributed to improving MI ability.

DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates that somatosensory stimulation, combining electrical and mechanical stimuli, can improve MI capability and enhance the excitability of the sensorimotor cortex in healthy individuals.