Mu Suppression Is Sensitive to Observational Practice but Results in Different Patterns of Activation in Comparison with Physical Practice.

Mu Suppression Is Sensitive to Observational Practice but Results in Different Patterns of Activation in Comparison with Physical Practice. Neural Plast. 2018;2018:8309483 Authors: Alhajri N, Hodges NJ, Zwicker JG, Virji-Babul N Abstract Research has shown the effectiveness of observational practice for motor learning, but there continues to be debate about the mechanisms underlying effectiveness. Although cortical processes can be moderated during observation, after both physical and observational practice, how these processes change with respect to behavioural measures of learning has not been studied. Here we compared short-term physical and observational practice during the acquisition and retention of a novel motor task to evaluate how each type of practice modulates EEG mu rhythm (8-13 Hz). Thirty healthy individuals were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) physical practice (PP), (2) observational practice (OP), and (3) no practice (NP) control. There were four testing stages: baseline EEG, practice, postpractice observation, and delayed retention. There was significant bilateral suppression of mu rhythm during PP but only left lateralized mu suppression during OP. In the postpractice observation phase, mu suppression was bilateral and larger after PP compared to that after OP. NP control showed no evidence of suppression and was significantly different to both the OP and PP groups. When comparing the three groups ...
Source: Neural Plasticity - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neural Plast Source Type: research