Imagine squeezing a cactus: Cortical activation during affective motor imagery measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy

The activation of different brain areas during kinaesthetic and visual motor imagery has been extensively studied, whereas little is known about affective motor imagery, i.e. the imagery of pleasant/unpleasant movements. In the present neuroimaging study we investigated cortical activation of kinaesthetic motor imagery (KMI) based on emotional stimulus content by means of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Twenty healthy adult participants were instructed to imagine affective, and neutral motor tasks while multichannel fNIRS was recorded simultaneously. In the affective MI condition they had to imagine e.g. squeezing a cactus with their right hand several times, eliciting an unpleasant emotion. In the neutral condition their task was to imagine squeezing a ball. Significant differences in oxy-hemoglobin [oxy-Hb] concentration changes during KMI including affective objects in different brain regions were found. Specifically activation in left parietal and frontal regions was increased during the imagery of squeezing a cactus which induced a painful feeling. Both areas are also involved in the perception of pain and commonly labelled as parts of the “pain matrix”. Our study provides novel insights in cortical activation patterns during affective motor imagery and its psychological and cognitive mechanisms underlying pain experience.