Proceedings of Réanimation 2017, the French Intensive Care Society International Congress

Discrete and effortful imagined movements do not specifically activate the autonomic nervous system.

International audience; BACKGROUND: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is activated in parallel with the motor system during cyclical and effortful imagined actions. However, it is not clear whether the ANS is activated during motor imagery of discrete movements and whether this activation is specific to the movement being imagined. Here, we explored these topics by studying the baroreflex control of the cardiovascular system. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Arterial pressure and heart rate were recorded in ten subjects who executed or imagined trunk or leg movements against gravity. Trunk and leg movements result in different physiological reactions (orthostatic hypotension phenomenon) whe…