Mental practice modulates functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex

Dylan Rannaud Monany; Florent Lebon; William Dupont; Charalambos Papaxanthis

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104397

Mental practice modulates functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex

iScience. 2022 May 13;25(6):104397. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104397. eCollection 2022 Jun 17.

Authors

Dylan Rannaud Monany¹, Florent Lebon¹, William Dupont¹, Charalambos Papaxanthis¹

Affiliation

¹ INSERM UMR1093-CAPS, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UFR des Sciences du Sport, F-21000 Dijon, France.

Abstract

Our brain has the extraordinary capacity to improve motor skills through mental practice. Conceptually, this ability is attributed to internal forward models, which are cerebellar neural networks that can predict the sensory consequences of motor commands. In our study, we employed single and dual-coil transcranial magnetic stimulations to probe the level of corticospinal excitability and cerebellar-brain inhibition, respectively, before and after a mental practice session or a control session. Motor skill (i.e., accuracy and speed) was measured using a sequential finger tapping-task. We found that mental practice enhanced both speed and accuracy. In parallel, the functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex changed, with less inhibition from the first to the second. These findings reveal the existence of neuroplastic changes within the cerebellum, supporting the involvement of internal models after mental practice.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience.