Brain Plasticity Induced by Motor Imagery Training: Role of Cognitive Abilities, Interoceptive Sensibility, and Hypnotizability.

Abstract

High hypnotizability predicts greater similarity between the cortical correlates of actual and imagined action (functional equivalence, FE). The study investigated whether motor imagery (MI) training (MIT) improves subjective experience, chronometric indices, and the EEG correlates of MI (like physical training), and whether absorption, imagery abilities, and interoceptive sensibility influence the possible improvement. Participants with high, medium, and low hypnotizability participated in a session before MIT (S1) and another session after 15-day MIT (S2). Each session included baseline conditions (B), actual movements of the left arm and hand (M), visual (V), and kinesthetic imagery (K) of the same movements. EEG and ECG were monitored. After MIT, the reported efficacy of imagery increased, and the changes in both the aperiodic and oscillatory components of EEG indicated improved imagery in all groups. FE was observed for all groups in high beta PSD. Its similar changes that occurred after MIT during both baseline and tasks indicate neural plasticity.