Partially Overlapping Neural Networks for Real and Imagined Hand Movements

TLDR

Neuroimagery shows similar cerebral networks for imagined and executed movements, but neuropsychological evidence from parietal‑lesioned patients suggests these networks may be partially distinct. Normal subjects performed auditory‑cued hand movements either by imagining or executing them. Both imagination and execution activated overlapping networks in bilateral premotor, parietal, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, but mental simulation recruited additional cortico‑subcortical regions such as bilateral premotor, prefrontal, supplementary motor, left posterior parietal, and caudate nuclei, indicating a distinct neuronal substrate for hand motor representations.

Abstract

Neuroimagery findings have shown similar cerebral networks associated with imagination and execution of a movement. On the other hand, neuropsychological studies of parietal-lesioned patients suggest that these networks may be at least partly distinct. In the present study, normal subjects were asked to either imagine or execute auditory-cued hand movements. Compared with rest, imagination and execution showed overlapping networks, including bilateral premotor and parietal areas, basal ganglia and cerebellum. However, direct comparison between the two experimental conditions showed that specific cortico-subcortical areas were more engaged in mental simulation, including bilateral premotor, prefrontal, supplementary motor and left posterior parietal areas, and the caudate nuclei. These results suggest that a specific neuronal substrate is involved in the processing of hand motor representations.