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Mind the bend: cerebral activations associated with mental imagery of walking along a curved path

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Abstract

The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine mental imagery of locomotion has become an attractive way to investigate supraspinal gait control in humans. Whereas cerebral activation patterns associated with walking along a straight line have already been investigated, data on activations associated with the initiation of turns and the maintenance of a curved path are sparse. Electrophysiological findings in animals show that electrical stimulation of the striatum induces a contraversive turn of eyes, head, and body. In the present study, fMRI was used to investigate brain activity in 12 healthy volunteers during mental imagery of walking along a curved path, walking straight ahead, and upright stance. The major findings were as follows: (1) A shift of activation to the hemisphere contralateral to the turn was found in the putamen, and—for initiation of the turn—in the caudate nucleus. These findings confirm the important role of the striatum in the initiation of movement and the execution of contraversive body turns. (2) Parahippocampal and fusiform gyri, known to be involved in visually guided navigation, showed more activity when walking along a curved path than when walking straight ahead. (3) Deactivations were found in the superior and medial temporal gyri, areas belonging to the multisensory and vestibular cortical network. This reduced activity may reflect the suppression of vestibular signal processing in favour of—potentially conflicting—visual input. (4) Mental imagery of walking along a curved path induced ipsiversive eye movements in most subjects, as did actually walking along a curve. These data complement earlier findings on the role of anticipatory eye movements during initiation of turns and suggest that there is a very close neurophysiologic relation between locomotion and its mental imagery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Klinikum Grosshadern, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Judith Wagner, Thomas Stephan, Roger Kalla, Michael Strupp, Thomas Brandt & Klaus Jahn

  2. Department of Neuroradiology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Klinikum Großhadern, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Hartmut Brückmann

Authors
  1. Judith Wagner
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  2. Thomas Stephan
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  3. Roger Kalla
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  4. Hartmut Brückmann
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  5. Michael Strupp
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  6. Thomas Brandt
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  7. Klaus Jahn
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Correspondence to Judith Wagner.

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Wagner, J., Stephan, T., Kalla, R. et al. Mind the bend: cerebral activations associated with mental imagery of walking along a curved path. Exp Brain Res 191, 247–255 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1520-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1520-8

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