PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dylan Rannaud Monany
AU  - Florent Lebon
AU  - William Dupont
AU  - Charalambos Papaxanthis
TI  - Mental practice modulates functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex
AID  - 10.1101/2021.06.18.448667
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.06.18.448667
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/18/2021.06.18.448667.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/18/2021.06.18.448667.full
AB  - Our brain has the extraordinary capacity to improve motor skills through mental practice. Conceptually, this ability is attributed to internal forward models, which are neural networks that can predict the sensory consequences of motor commands. While the cerebellum is considered as a potential locus of internal forward models, evidence for its involvement in mental practice is missing. In our study, we employed single and dual transcranial magnetic stimulation technique to probe the level of corticospinal excitability and of cerebellar-brain inhibition, respectively, before and after a mental practice session or a control session. Motor skills (i.e., accuracy and speed) were measured using a sequential finger tapping-task. Here, we show that mental practice enhances both speed and accuracy. In parallel, the functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex changes, with less inhibition from the first to the second, expressing the existence of neuroplastic changes within the cerebellum after mental practice. These findings reveal that the corticocerebellar loop is a major neural circuit for skill improvement after mental practice.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.