LAnguage-Motor Imagery Circuits to Improve Motor Learning and Language Comprehension (LAMI)

Recent evidence suggests that cognitive systems do not operate in isolation but interact within broader networks, thus opening new avenues for fundamental and clinical research. An illustrative example is the interaction between language comprehension and motor representations. For instance, motor training (e.g., sports, origami training) can facilitate action verb recognition, whereas motor deficits (e.g., upper limb immobilization) can hinder the processing of action language. Similarly, action language has been shown to affect motor performance. These effects are attributed to an implicit form of motor imagery, an automatic simulation of motor experience (without actual movement) evoked by action words. Interestingly, literature supports the idea that the motor simulations used for imagining an action are also engaged during the reading of action language, leading to similar neurophysiological and behavioral changes in both processes. However, questions remain about the similarity of the simulations generated by motor imagery and action language. This project, encompassing three experimental sequences, aims to address these questions to achieve significant scientific advancements in both theoretical and applied domains.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Corticospinal Excitability; Cortical Activation
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Motor imagery; Other: Action reading; Other: Motor localizer

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 105

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Laurent VERCUEIL; Phone Number: 0476765561; Email: LVercueil@chu-grenoble.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: William DUPONT; Phone Number: +33 (0)6 67 76 00 99; Email: william.dupont@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Dijon, France
    • Recruiting
    • Université de Bourgogne
    • Contact: William DUPONT; Phone Number: +33 (0)6 67 76 00 99; Email: william.dupont@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
    • Contact: Florent LEBON; Phone Number: +33 (0)3 80 39 67 54; Email: Florent.Lebon@u-bourgogne.fr
    • Principal Investigator: Florent LEBON
  • Grenob
    • Grenoble, Grenob, France, 38043
      • Recruiting
      • Chu Grenoble Alpes
      • Principal Investigator: Laurent VERCUEIL
      • Contact: William DUPONT; Phone Number: +33 (0)6 67 76 00 99; Email: william.dupont@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr
      • Contact: Laurent VERCUEIL; Phone Number: +33 (0)4 76 76 55 61; Email: LVercueil@chu-grenoble.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Subjects will be aged between 18 and 40, reading and understanding French, with no neurological or psychiatric disorders, no uncorrected vision deficits, and meeting all MRI or TMS examination criteria. they were recruited at the University of Burgundy (TMS measures only) and the University of Grenoble Alpes (fMRI measures only).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• persons who have given written consent,
• healthy subjects
• subjects reading and understanding French
• right-handed,
• affiliated with a social security system,
• between 18 and 40 years old,
• had completed the TMS inclusion questionnaire or had undergone a medical examination prior to participation in the MRI study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Existence of a severe general medical condition: cardiac, respiratory, hematological, renal, hepatic, cancerous,
• Regular use of anxiolytics, sedatives, antidepressants, neuroleptics,
• Characterized psychiatric pathology,
• Ingestion of alcohol prior to the examination,
• Persons covered by articles L1121-5 to L1121-8 of the CSP,
• Presence of contraindications to MRI or TMS.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

5

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
control group	Other: Motor imagery; Participants were asked to imagine arm or foot movements.; Other: Action reading; Participants were asked to read sentences involving arm or foot movements
TMS Experimental group	Other: Motor imagery; Participants were asked to imagine arm or foot movements.; Other: Action reading; Participants were asked to read sentences involving arm or foot movements
fMRI Experimental group	Other: Motor imagery; Participants were asked to imagine arm or foot movements.; Other: Action reading; Participants were asked to read sentences involving arm or foot movements; Other: Motor localizer; Participants were asked to perform arm or foot movements
Experimental ccPAS group	Other: Motor imagery; Participants were asked to imagine arm or foot movements.; Other: Action reading; Participants were asked to read sentences involving arm or foot movements
Sham ccPAS group	Other: Motor imagery; Participants were asked to imagine arm or foot movements.; Other: Action reading; Participants were asked to read sentences involving arm or foot movements

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Level of corticospinal excitability	this is a physiological response obtained by transcranial magnetic pulses (TMS). This is an indicator of the excitability of the motor system, which can be used at rest or during various cognitive tasks (motor imagery or action reading).	1 hour and 30 minutes
Cortical activation (BOLD signal)	this is a cortical response obtained via a fMRI. This is an indicator of the brain activity, which can be used at rest or during motor and cognitive tasks (motor imagery or action reading).	1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital, Grenoble
• Collaborators: University of Burgundy
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Laurent VERCUEIL, Chu Grenoble Alpes

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 27, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 26, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 26, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 13, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 21, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 27, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 2, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 1, 2024
• Last Verified: August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 38RC23.0349; 2023-A02322-43 (Other Identifier: ID RCB)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No