EEG assessment of intentional tremor during motor imagery

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) compromises motor function, leading to severe involuntary tremors, impacting the daily lives of patients who suffer from this neurodegenerative disease. Functional electrical stimulation offers a possible solution to mitigate this symptom. Its combination with braincomputer interface (BCI) based on electroencephalography (EEG) can provide real-time feedback during therapy, enhancing motivation and fostering neuroplasticity through motor imagery. This study explores EEG response during motor imagery of multiple tasks with the dominant arm including both intentional and not intentional tremors in healthy participants. The tasks comprise the imagery of wrist dorsiflexion, arm extension, and rest-to-nose, being the last two part of the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. Results suggest that arm extension with intentional tremors or wrist dorsiflexion are suitable tasks for motor imagery with similar strong ERDs. The preliminary results are promising for further design of a novel BCI system targeting the reduction of tremors in PD.