Citation

Patel M, Roberts RE, Riyaz M, Ahmed M, Buckwell D, Bunday K, Ahmad H, Kaski D, Arshad Q, Bronstein AM. J. Neurophysiol. 2015; 114(3): 1538-1544.

Affiliation

Imperial College Faculty of Medicine a.bronstein@imperial.ac.uk.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Physiological Society)

DOI

10.1152/jn.00446.2015

PMID

26156386

Abstract

Observing the motor actions of another person could facilitate compensatory motor behaviour in the passive observer. Here, we explored whether action observation alone can induce automatic locomotor adaptation in humans. To explore this possibility we used the "broken-escalator" paradigm. Conventionally this involves stepping upon a stationary sled after having previously experienced it actually moving (MOVING trials). This history of motion produces a locomotor aftereffect when subsequently stepping on to a stationary sled. We found that viewing an actor perform the MOVING trials was sufficient to generate a locomotor aftereffect in the observer, the size of which was significantly correlated with the size of the movement (postural sway) observed. Crucially, the effect is specific to watching the task being performed, as no motor adaptation occurs after simply viewing the sled move in isolation. These findings demonstrate that locomotor adaptation in humans can be driven purely by action observation, with the brain adapting motor plans in response to the size of the observed individual's motion. This mechanism may be mediated by a mirror neuron system that automatically adapts behaviour to minimise movement errors and improve motor skills through social cues, though further neurophysiological studies are required to support this theory. These data suggest that merely observing the gait of another person in a challenging environment is sufficient to generate appropriate postural countermeasures, implying the existence of an automatic mechanism for adapting locomotor behaviour.

Language: en