Passive Observation of Own Hand Movement Enhances the Event-Related Desynchronization

Abstract

Event-related desynchronization (ERD) observed electroencephalogram (EEG) is induced by either motor im- agery (MI), passive action observation (AO), or their combi- nation. In the AO, subjects watch movies in which action of their actual body parts or that of others are shown. In order to investigate how the movie in the AO affects the ERD responses, we recorded EEG data during three different tasks: 1) MI and AO of a subject's hand (MI+sAO), 2) MI and AO of a non-subject's hand (MI+nAO), and 3) only MI. Experimental results showed that the ERD responses in the alpha frequency band during MI+sAO at the C3 and C4 channel locations were stronger than that during other two conditions.