How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals
This study explores how gait imagery (GI) influences lower-limb muscle activity with respect to posture and previous walking experience. We utilized surface electromyography (sEMG) in 36 healthy young individuals aged 24 (±1.1) years to identify muscle activity during a non-gait imagery task (non-GI...
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/11/1605 |
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| author | Barbora Kolářová Marek Tomsa Petr Kolář Hana Haltmar Tereza Diatelová Miroslav Janura |
| author_facet | Barbora Kolářová Marek Tomsa Petr Kolář Hana Haltmar Tereza Diatelová Miroslav Janura |
| author_sort | Barbora Kolářová |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study explores how gait imagery (GI) influences lower-limb muscle activity with respect to posture and previous walking experience. We utilized surface electromyography (sEMG) in 36 healthy young individuals aged 24 (±1.1) years to identify muscle activity during a non-gait imagery task (non-GI), as well as GI tasks before (GI-1) and after the execution of walking (GI-2), with assessments performed in both sitting and standing postures. The sEMG was recorded on both lower limbs on the tibialis anterior (TA) and on the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) for all tested tasks. As a result, a significant muscle activity decrease was found in the right TA for GI-1 compared to GI-2 in both sitting (<i>p</i> = 0.008) and standing (<i>p</i> = 0.01) positions. In the left TA, the activity decreased in the sitting posture during non-GI (<i>p</i> = 0.004) and GI-1 (<i>p</i> = 0.009) in comparison to GI-2. No differences were found for GM. The subjective level of imagination difficulty improved for GI-2 in comparison to GI-1 in both postures (<i>p <</i> 0.001). Previous sensorimotor experience with real gait execution and sitting posture potentiate TA activity decrease during GI. These findings contribute to the understanding of neural mechanisms beyond GI. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:58:20Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:58:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1bc87e85293c4243b220e06ed7dfa0362023-11-24T14:32:54ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252023-11-011311160510.3390/brainsci13111605How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy IndividualsBarbora Kolářová0Marek Tomsa1Petr Kolář2Hana Haltmar3Tereza Diatelová4Miroslav Janura5Department of Clinical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 976/3, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Clinical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 976/3, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Clinical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 976/3, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Clinical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 976/3, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Clinical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 976/3, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech RepublicDepartment of Natural Sciences in Kinanthropology, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, třída Míru 117, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech RepublicThis study explores how gait imagery (GI) influences lower-limb muscle activity with respect to posture and previous walking experience. We utilized surface electromyography (sEMG) in 36 healthy young individuals aged 24 (±1.1) years to identify muscle activity during a non-gait imagery task (non-GI), as well as GI tasks before (GI-1) and after the execution of walking (GI-2), with assessments performed in both sitting and standing postures. The sEMG was recorded on both lower limbs on the tibialis anterior (TA) and on the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) for all tested tasks. As a result, a significant muscle activity decrease was found in the right TA for GI-1 compared to GI-2 in both sitting (<i>p</i> = 0.008) and standing (<i>p</i> = 0.01) positions. In the left TA, the activity decreased in the sitting posture during non-GI (<i>p</i> = 0.004) and GI-1 (<i>p</i> = 0.009) in comparison to GI-2. No differences were found for GM. The subjective level of imagination difficulty improved for GI-2 in comparison to GI-1 in both postures (<i>p <</i> 0.001). Previous sensorimotor experience with real gait execution and sitting posture potentiate TA activity decrease during GI. These findings contribute to the understanding of neural mechanisms beyond GI.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/11/1605motor imagerygaitmuscle activitysurface electromyography |
| spellingShingle | Barbora Kolářová Marek Tomsa Petr Kolář Hana Haltmar Tereza Diatelová Miroslav Janura How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals Brain Sciences motor imagery gait muscle activity surface electromyography |
| title | How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals |
| title_full | How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals |
| title_fullStr | How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals |
| title_short | How Posture and Previous Sensorimotor Experience Influence Muscle Activity during Gait Imagery in Young Healthy Individuals |
| title_sort | how posture and previous sensorimotor experience influence muscle activity during gait imagery in young healthy individuals |
| topic | motor imagery gait muscle activity surface electromyography |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/13/11/1605 |
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