An interventional study of Motor Imagery and Action Observation in Autonomic Nervous System, sponsored by Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. Completed at 1 site in Spain. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-03-01.
Sponsored by Universidad Autonoma de Madrid · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
The main objective of this study was to compare the activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System in a program that combined Motor Imagery with Action Observation, in contrast to an isolated Motor Imagery program on the one hand in asymptomatic subjects and in the other hand in patients with chronic low back pain.
Motor Imagery (MI) is defined as a dynamic mental process that involves the representation of an action, in an internal way, without its actual motor execution. The Action Observation (AO) evokes an internal, real-time motor simulation of the movements that the observer is perceiving visually. Both mental processes trigger the activation of the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie the planning and execution of voluntary movements in a manner that resembles how the action is performed in a real manner.
Both observation and imagination share a great number of common mental processes based primarily on sensory perception, and the information stored by memory systems. The activation of the motor command during a mental practice does not induce an active movement probably due to an inhibitory mechanism in the primary motor cortex on the descending corticospinal tract pathways. However, this inhibition is not complete, for it is well known that the training of mental practice involves a component of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
It has been shown that both MI and AO lead to changes in the ANS that cause excitatory sympathetic responses, although the neurophysiological bases remain uncertain and are still based on hypotheses. The functional relations between both neurocognitive processes and the sympathetic-excitatory nervous system (SNS) could be based on a preparation phase in which, the activation of the SNS, happens to a near effort and, therefore, to a close energy expenditure in physiological processes (i.e., cardiorespiratory adaptationse) which will take place in order to face said metabolic changes produced by the voluntary movement itself. In addition, several hypotheses have been described regarding the notion that the SNS not only has the quantitative objective of providing energy to the muscle effectors, but that it also qualitatively and specifically designs and adapts the parameters on demand in an attempt to save the energy provided for each precise motor execution.
Taking into account that both MI and AO cause sympathetic-excitatory changes that induce an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, electrodermal activity , our hypothesis is that the combination of MI and AO induces an autonomic sympathetic-excitatory shift greater than MI does in isolation. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to compare the results obtained from intervention groups on the subject of the activation of the SNS in a program that combined MI with AO, in contrast to an isolated MI program on the one hand in asymptomatic subjects and in the other hand in patients with chronic low back pain.. The secondary objective of the present study was to explore whether there is any relationship between the sympathetic-excitatory response and the ability to generate motor imagery, the mental chronometry, and the level of physical activity.
Universidad Autonoma de Madrid is the lead sponsor of 51 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
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Inclusion Criteria patients with chronic low back pain:
Exclusion Criteria asymptomatic subjects:
Exclusion Criteria patients with chronic low back pain:
Motor Imagery
Behavioral: Motor Imagery
Action Observation
Behavioral: Action Observation
No intervention
Two consecutive 30 seconds imagery tasks were performed, both based on two movements that are recorded in the Revised Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-R).
Two consecutive 30 seconds imagery tasks were performed, both based on two movements that are recorded in the Revised Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-R). Before the subjects performed the mental MI practice, they were presented with a 30 seconds video that displayed the task that they ought to imagine later. A video was played prior to the first practice of imagination and after the second mental practice, a second video was shown.
Electrodermal Activity
Electrodermal Activity will be measured through the use of two electrodes that recorded changes in conductance through the skin located at the back of the dominant hand
Time frame: Change in electrodermal activity after 5 minutes post-intervention
Respiration Rate
Respiration Rate will be measured through a pressure transducer located in the centre of the chest, where it was fixed by a strap
Time frame: Change in respiration rate after 5 minutes post-intervention
Heart Rate
Heart Rate will be measured by three electrodes located in the left area of the chest. One of the electrodes was placed in the middle zone while a second electrode was positioned on the lateral side, and a third one on the lower left side, below the first electrode.
Time frame: Change in heart rate after 5 minutes post-intervention
Visual and Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Ability
Visual and Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Ability will be measured with MIQ-R Questionnaire. MIQ-R has 4 movements repeated in two subscales, a visual and a kinaesthetic one. Additionally, a score between 1 and 7 is assigned, with 1 representing difficulty in picturing the motor image or difficulty in feeling the movement previously made, and 7 representing the maximum ease. A modification was made in the MIQ-R. Items 2 and 5, in which a small jump is made, were changed by standing on tiptoe. The internal consistencies of the MIQ-R have been consistently adequate with Cronbach's α coefficients ranging above 0.84 for the total scale, 0.80 for de visual subscale and 0.84 for the kinesthetic subscale.
Time frame: Pre-intervention
Mental Chronometry
Mental chronometry evaluation was also used to measure the subject's motor imagery ability. Using a stopwatch, the time spent for performing each MIQ-R task was recorded. Time recorded corresponds to the interval between the command to start the task, given by the evaluator, and the verbal response of conclusion of the task, given by the subject. Mental chronometry is a reliable behavioral task that has previously been employed to collect an objective measure of MI ability
Time frame: Pre-intervention
The degree of physical activity
The degree of physical activity was objectified through the The International Physical Activity Questionnaire questionnaire, which allows the subjects to be divided into three groups according to their level of activity, which can be high, moderate, and low or inactive
Time frame: Pre-intervention
Plan to share: No
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Ran from Jan 2017 to primary completion in Apr 2017, 2 months.
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Universidad Autonoma de Madrid