Exercise image refers to so-called image training.It is said to be useful in situations where physical activity is prohibited or restricted because it does not need to be accompanied by actual exercise, and it has been said that the implementation of exercise images leads to improvement of muscle strength and walking speed. It has been reported.However, the mechanism by which motor imagery improves motor skills has not been fully investigated, and only reports have separately examined brain and spinal cord functions.

　Therefore, in this study, when it is assumed that motor image changes motor skill, in order to clarify what kind of neural function change occurs in motor image, the brain and spinal cord in the image are measured simultaneously and statistics. The causal relationship was evaluated using a scientific method.

　As a result, as previously reported, motor imagery improved motor skills (in this study, the skillful movement task of the fingers).Immediately after the exercise image, the supplementary motor area involved in the spontaneous exercise program is active, suppressing the activity of the primary motor area involved in the execution of voluntary exercise, and further increasing the excitement of the spinal nerve. It was revealed that the spinal cord gain conditions were adjusted in preparation for exercise execution.

　This result is a first-step study that leads to the full elucidation of the neural function in the motor image, and suggests that the spinal nerve function is an important point in measuring the motor image effect.In the future, he hopes to further expand the area of ​​interest in the brain and clarify the causal relationship with the spinal nerves.

Paper information:[Neuroscience Letters] Precision pinch force control via brain and spinal motor neuron excitability during motor imagery