MIAMI, Oct 27 (Reuters Health) -- Thinking about how an object could move stimulates the motion-sensing areas of the brain, even before the object moves, report researchers.
The study was conducted using a relatively new technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The findings suggest that the brain anticipates moving objects as we cross a street, return a tennis serve, or catch a falling child, according to a statement from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, where the researchers are based.
The investigators explain that the technique can be used to study how the brain differentiates between expectation and response, or thought and perception.
"The ability to analyze these functions separately allows investigation into numerous brain activities," according to Dr. Gordon L. Shulman. He and Dr. Maurizio Corbetta presented their team's findings this week at the Society for Neuroscience meeting here.
Shulman and colleagues used "event-related fMRI," a technique that permits researchers to analyze brain activity while an individual is looking at a particular object or other visual cue.
In the experiment, the researchers cued the brain with the appearance of an arrow superimposed on a background of dots. The brain showed signs of processing motion even though no motion had yet occurred, they reported.
"This furthers the understanding of how the brain carries out mental processes," Schulman told Reuters Health.
In another study, Corbetta analyzed fMRI images when the brain expects movement in a particular space, and also when the action finally occurs in either the expected space or an unanticipated space.
In persons with normal brain activity, "the right side (of the brain) takes over during targeting and is stronger when expectations are not met," Corbetta said.
The study results shed light on how the brain adapts after injury, Corbetta told Reuters Health. He believes that the findings may lead to new rehabilitation techniques for stroke patients.
