Imagining to learn: quantifying network activation patterns to understand the brain mechanisms underlying motor imagery-based skill acquisition

我们学习高度熟练的动作序列的能力对人类表现的许多方面都是关键。从花样滑冰运动员无懈可击的三级跳远到救命手术，熟练的动作都是通过一个称为运动学习的过程来磨练的。运动学习之所以发生，是因为当我们反复练习新动作时，我们的大脑会发生变化。我们通常通过实际行动来练习一个动作。这就是所谓的身体练习。然而，体育锻炼并不总是可能的；运动员受伤了，外科医生累了，有些人在脑损伤后重新学习运动，根本不能动。事实证明，练习一个动作完全不需要动也是可能的；你只需要想着动就行了。这就是所谓的运动意象。我们认为，结合物理练习使用运动想象可以使学习运动技能的速度更快、效率更高。*运动想象的问题是我们对它知之甚少。事实上，我们对运动想象中大脑的哪些区域起作用，以及它们是如何随着学习而变化的知之甚少。这种知识的缺乏是一个问题。不知道大脑在运动想象过程中是如何工作的，这阻碍了我们找出最好的方法来利用它来帮助运动学习。在体育实践中，我们知道很多关于大脑活动以及大脑如何随着学习而变化的知识。因此，我们能够找出最好的学习方法，比如要做多少练习和坚持多久。对于运动图像，我们需要弄清楚同样的细节。这就是这项研究的长期目标--确定运动想象如何最好地推动运动学习。这项拟议中的研究的短期目标是找出在运动想象过程中大脑区域是如何协同工作的，以及当我们学习新的运动技能时，它们是如何变化的。这些信息告诉我们在运动想象过程中大脑区域的工作网络。然后，我们想要确定大脑中对执行运动想象至关重要的区域，以及那些对使用运动想象学习至关重要的区域。通过使用运动意象来提高我们学习新技能或加强我们已有技能的能力，可以对所有加拿大人产生影响。想象一下，我们的高水平运动员在竞争中占据优势，我们的劳动力拥有更高水平的技能，我们的医疗保健专业人员拥有帮助恢复运动的新工具。这项研究将在广泛的领域产生影响，最终对加拿大人的表现和健康产生积极的影响。

Our ability to learn highly skilled sequences of movements is key to many aspects of human performance. From the flawless triple jump of a figure skater to life-saving surgeries, skilled movements are honed through a process called motor learning. Motor learning happens because our brain changes as we repetitively practice new movements. We usually practice a movement by actually doing it. This is called physical practice. However, it's not always possible to physically practice a movement; athletes get injured, surgeons get tired, and some people re-learning movement after a brain injury can't move at all. It turns out that it's possible to practice a movement without moving at all; you just need to think about moving. This is called motor imagery. We think that using motor imagery along with physical practice can make learning motor skills faster and more efficient. ******The problem with motor imagery is that we don't know a lot about it. In fact, we know very little about what brain areas work during motor imagery, and how they change with learning. This lack of knowledge is a problem. Not knowing how the brain works during motor imagery prevents us from figuring out the best ways to use it to help with motor learning. In physical practice we know a lot about brain activity and how the brain changes with learning. As a result we have been able to figure out the best ways to learn, like how much practice to do and for how long. We need to figure out these same details for motor imagery. This is the long-term goal of this research - to establish how motor imagery best drives motor learning. The short-term goal that makes up the proposed research is to find out about how areas of the brain work together during motor imagery, and how they change when we learn new motor skills. This information tells us about the network of brain areas at work during motor imagery. We then want to identify the brain areas critical to performing motor imagery, and those critical to learning using motor imagery. Enhancing our ability to learn new skills or strengthen skills we already have by using motor imagery can impact on all Canadians. Imagine our high performance athletes having an edge on the competition, members of our workforce having a higher level of skill, and our healthcare professionals having a new tool to help with recovery of movement. This research will impact on a wide range of areas, ultimately having a positive effect on the performance and health of Canadians.