Acquisition and consolidation of sequential footstep movements with physical and motor imagery practice

Sleep‐dependent performance enhancement has been consistently reported after explicit sequential finger learning, even using motor imagery practice (MIP), but whether similar sleep benefits occur after explicit sequential gross motor learning with the lower limbs has been addressed less often. Here,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports 2020-12, Vol.30 (12), p.2477-2484
Main Authors: Freitas, Emilie, Saimpont, Arnaud, Blache, Yoann, Debarnot, Ursula
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Cognitive science
Female
Foot - physiology
Humans
Imagination
learning
Lower Extremity - physiology
lower‐limb movement
Male
mental training
motor imagery
Motor Skills - physiology
Movement
Neuroscience
Practice, Psychological
Sleep
Sleep - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Sleep‐dependent performance enhancement has been consistently reported after explicit sequential finger learning, even using motor imagery practice (MIP), but whether similar sleep benefits occur after explicit sequential gross motor learning with the lower limbs has been addressed less often. Here, we investigated both acquisition and consolidation processes in an innovative sequential footstep task performed either physically or mentally. Forty‐eight healthy young participants were tested before and after physical practice (PP) or MIP on the footstep task, following either a night of sleep (PPsleep and MIPsleep groups) or an equivalent daytime period (PPday and MIPday groups). Results showed that all groups improved motor performance following the acquisition session, albeit the magnitude of enhancement in the MIP groups remained lower relative to the PP groups. Importantly, only the MIPsleep group further improved performance after a night of sleep, while the other groups stabilized their performance after consolidation. Together, these findings demonstrate a sleep‐dependent gain in performance after MIP in a sequential motor task with the lower limbs but not after PP. Overall, the present study is of particular importance in the context of motor learning and functional rehabilitation.
ISSN:0905-7188
1600-0838
DOI:10.1111/sms.13799