NCT07531212

Movement-Sequence Observation in Healthy Adults: Motor and Cognitive Effects on Effector-Independent Performance

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (actual)
• Sponsor: Ariel University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 35 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Studies examining the effects of action observation (AO) on ipsilateral versus contralateral upper limb (UL) motor performance have reported mixed findings. Furthermore, the extent to which the cognitive component of sequence observation contributes to AO-related improvements in motor sequence execution remains unclear. We aimed to determine whether observing unilateral UL reaching movement (RM) sequences affects UL RM performance in an effector-dependent or effector-independent manner in healthy adults and to determine the contribution of the cognitive aspect, particularly sequence memory, to the motor performance. Sixty participants randomly participated in a single-session intervention of (1) observing RM sequences with the non-dominant left UL (AO group); or (2) observing identical light switches sequences (SO group); or (3) observing nature films (Nature Observation (NO) group). Sequential RMs of both the left and right ULs (ipsilateral and contralateral to the observed movements, respectively) toward the light switches were tested before and immediately after the intervention, and retested after 24 h.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Action observation (AO)	Participants observed reaching movement sequence performed by the left upper limb toward light switches (10 blocks of video clips, each containing 5 sequences (totaling 300 reaching movements), with a 10 second rest period between blocks).
BEHAVIORAL	Sequence observation (SO)	Participants observed a video clip of switches illuminating in the same sequence, from the same egocentric perspective, but without any human movements. The illuminating switches were activated with the same timing and rest periods as those in the AO group
BEHAVIORAL	Nature Observation (NO)	Participants observed a neutral movie that consisted of nature views without any human or animal movements. These videos included 10-second blank screen intervals corresponding to the rest periods in the AO and SO video clips

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-03-09
• Primary completion: 2024-07-26
• Completion: 2026-03-01
• First posted: 2026-04-15
• Last updated: 2026-04-15

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Israel