The brain activity bases of delayed actions and motor imagery

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In everyday life, many of our actions are done without the target object of those actions in view, but we know about the objects from previous experience. For example, operating a television remote control device is often done without looking down at the key pad. Switching on a light in a familiar dark room is usually successful, even if there is some fumbling that occurs during the process. In both cases, successful actions without immediate visual input are likely done, in part, by accessing our memory systems in order to provide critical information to our motor systems. Moreover, if we had to focus our perceptual systems on all of our actions all of the time, our performance would not be very efficient, and we would be limited in our capacity to carry out many complex tasks. In this proposal I refer to these memory guided actions as “delayed actions.” Related to this is the process of imagining actions, such as mentally picturing making a good golf swing, or efficiently threading a needle. Here the process if often vivid and critically supports our skilled performance on many tasks. This process, which we call "motor imagery" also engages the memory system and is considered to be valuable for producing actions, recognizing tools, learning though observation, and understanding the actions of others. Despite this, the amount of research on the brain mechanisms that sub-serve delayed actions and motor imagery is not vast, and the main goal of this proposed research program is further elucidate the basic nature of these processes. ******My general approach will be to use cognitive neuroscience techniques in this research program. In particular, we will conduct our experiments in conjunction with electroencephalography (EEG), event-related potentials (ERP), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and simultaneous EEG/fMRI methods. These are techniques that I have expertise with, and I have the necessary infrastructure and training program to carry out. This work will be done in conjunction with a series of behavioural experiments, and will offer unique, top-level-quality opportunities for the continued training of highly qualified personnel (HQP) in my lab. ******The proposed studies will be important for constraining theories and models of cognition and action, and may inform cognitive and neuropsychological research with aging populations, where decline in cognitive function and motor-control function are major areas of interest. Our neuroscientific studies of delayed and imagined action may also inform neural prosthetic and brain computer interface (BCI) research, which primarily has focused on immediate and real-time overt actions. Furthermore, this research may be informative for the development of training protocols of highly skilled operators in many domains.