MEP analysis of hand motor imagery with bimanual coordination under transcranial magnetic stimulation

Stroke is one of leading causes of motor disability among adults all over the world. Recently motor imagery was found to be a potential rehabilitation method for stroke. Based on the bimanual coordination of movement, a hand motor imagery experiment was designed in this paper. And transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the left motor cortex to evoke motor evoked potential (MEP) in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) of right hand. Ten subjects were required to perform three different motor imagery tasks about twisting bottle cap. As a result, the imagery of contralateral hand evoked the largest MEP which means the motor area of brain was most activated. This work has a great significance in providing the reference for designing the proper motor imagery therapy protocol after stroke.