Is it possible to use the Structural Dimension Analysis of Motor Memory (SDA-M) to investigate representations of motor actions in stroke patients?

Abstract

Objective: To determine the feasibility of the Structural Dimension Analysis of Motor Memory (SDA-M), a method derived from sports psychology, in establishing the mental representations of complex movements in patients after stroke.

Design: Case series of patients, with age-matched healthy controls.

Setting: A rehabilitation nursing home.

Subjects: Sixteen patients 3—26 weeks after their stroke, and 16 controls.

Intervention: Each control had the SDA-M performed within a 10-day period. Each stroke patient had the SDA-M performed once. In the SDA-M the subject was asked to state for each of 10 actions involved in drinking from a cup whether it is functionally close to each of the other nine or not.

Main measures: The raw data from the SDA-M were transformed through cluster analysis into Euclidean distances and tree diagrams to illustrate the internal representation of the action.

Results: All subjects were able to perform the assessment. Healthy controls all had a similar set of Euclidean distances and tree diagrams that were `normal'. The tree diagrams remained very similar on the three occasions. Four stroke patients had tree diagrams that were `normal'. The remaining twelve had tree diagrams that differed greatly both from the `normal' and from each other, with much less clustering of actions. Patients with more severe stroke appeared to have more disordered tree diagrams.

Conclusion: The Structural Dimension Analysis of Motor Memory (SDA-M) is a feasible method for investigating the mental representation of internal motor action plans in stroke patients, giving similar data in stable healthy people and revealing abnormal patterns in patients after stroke.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Braun SM , Beurskens AJ , Borm PJ , Schack T. , Wade DT The effects of mental practice in stroke rehabilitation: a systematic review . Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2006; 87: 842—52.

Schack T. , Tenenbaum G. Perceptual and cognitive control in action — a preface. New perspectives in movement science. Special issue part I: perceptual and cognitive control . Int J Sport Exerc Psychol 2004; 2: 207—209.

Schack T. the cognitive architecture of movement — New perspective in movement science. Special issue part II: representation and planning. Int J Sport Exerc Psychol 2004; 2: 403—38.

Decety J. , Grezes J. Neural mechanisms subserving the perception of human actions. Trends Cogn Sci 1999; 3: 172—78.

Decety J. , Jeannerod M. , Durozard D. , Baverel G. Central activation of autonomic effectors during mental simulation of motor actions in man. J Physiol 1993; 461: 549—63.

Decety J. , Perani D. , Jeannerod M. et al. Mapping motor representations with positron emission tomography . Nature 1994; 371: 600—02.

Ingvar DH , Philipson L. Distribution of cerebral blood flow in the dominant hemisphere during motor ideation and motor performance. Ann Neurol 1977; 2: 230—37.

Mellit Epl. Reopening the mental imagery debate: lessons from functional anatomy. Neuroimage 1998; 8: 129—39.

Nair DG , Purcott KL , Fuchs A. , Steinberg F. , Kelso JA

Cortical and cerebellar activity of the human brain during imagined and executed unimanual and bimanual action sequences: a functional MRI study. Brain Res

Cogn Brain Res 2003; 15: 250—60.

10.

Rizzolatti G. , Fadiga L. , Matelli M. et al. Localization of grasp representations in humans by PET: 1. Observation versus execution. Exp Brain Res 1996; 111: 246—52.

11.

Jeannerod M. Mental imagery in the motor cortex. Neuropsychologia 1995; 33: 1419—32.

12.

Jeannerod M. Action from within. Special issue: New perspective in movement science, Part II: representation and planning. Int J Sport Exerc Psychol 2004; 2: 376—402.

13.

Koch I. , Keller P. , Prinz W. The ideomotor approach to action control: implications for skilled performance. Special issue: New perspective in movement science, part II: representation and planning. Int J Sport Exerc Psychol 2004 ; 2: 362—75.

14.

Schack T. On the structure of movement representations — Theoretical assumptions and methodical approach. Motor Control Learn 2001: 1—12. (E-journal: ISSN 1439-7919). Accessed 1 May 2004 from: http://journal.motorik.swi.uni-saarland.de/index.htm

15.

Schack T. , Mechsner F. Representation of motor skills in human long-term memory. Neurosci Lett 2006; 391: 77—81.

16.

Schack T.

The relationship between motor representation and biomechanical parameters in complex movements. Towards an integrative perspective of movement science. Eur

J Sport Sci 2003; 3: 1—13.

17.

Schols JM , Crebolder HF , van Weel C. Nursing home and nursing home physician: the Dutch experience. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2004; 5: 207—12.

18.

Gould D. Greenleaf. Imagery training for peak performance. In Raalte van J , Brewer WB. eds. Exploring sport and exercise psychology, second edition. American Psychological Association, 2002: 49—74.

19.

Malouin F. , Richards CL , Doyon J. , Desrosiers J. , Belleville S. Training mobility tasks after stroke with combined mental and physical practice: a feasibility study. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2004; 18: 66—75.

20.

Martin K. Imagery use in sports: a literature review and applied model. Sports Psychol 1999; 13: 245—68.

21.

Lander HJ , Lange K. Eine differentialpsychologische Analyse begrifflich-strukturiertes Wissens . Z Psychol 1992; 200: 181—97.

22.

Decety J. The neurophysiological basis of motor imagery. Behav Brain Res 1996; 77: 45—52.

23.

Jackson PL LM , Malouin F. , Richards CL , Doyon J. Functional cerebral reorganization following motor sequence learning through mental practice with motor imagery. Neuroimage 2003; 20: 1171—80.

24.

Jackson PL , Lafleur MF , Malouin F. , Richards C. , Doyon J. Potential role of mental practice using motor imagery in neurologic rehabilitation . Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2001; 82: 1133—41.