Internally Simulated Movement Sensations during Motor Imagery Activate Cortical Motor Areas and the Cerebellum

It has been proposed that motor imagery contains an element of sensory experiences (kinesthetic sensations), which is a substitute for the sensory feedback that would normally arise from the overt action. No evidence has been provided about whether kinesthetic sensation is centrally simulated during motor imagery. We psychophysically tested whether motor imagery of palmar flexion or dorsiflexion of the right wrist would influence the sensation of illusory palmar flexion elicited by tendon vibration. We also tested whether motor imagery of wrist movement shared the same neural substrates involving the illusory sensation elicited by the peripheral stimuli. Regional cerebral blood flow was measured with H215O and positron emission tomography in 10 right-handed subjects. The right tendon of the wrist extensor was vibrated at 83 Hz (“illusion”) or at 12.5 Hz with no illusion (“vibration”). Subjects imagined doing wrist movements of alternating palmar and dorsiflexion at the same speed with the experienced illusory movements (“imagery”). A “rest” condition with eyes closed was included. We identified common active fields between the contrasts of imagery versus rest and illusion versus vibration. Motor imagery of palmar flexion psychophysically enhanced the experienced illusory angles of plamar flexion, whereas dorsiflexion imagery reduced it in the absence of overt movement. Motor imagery and the illusory sensation commonly activated the contralateral cingulate motor areas, supplementary motor area, dorsal premotor cortex, and ipsilateral cerebellum. We conclude that kinesthetic sensation associated with imagined movement is internally simulated during motor imagery by recruiting multiple motor areas.