{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T03:11:31Z","timestamp":1777864291277,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777507200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neural Circuits"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Motor imagery (MI), the mental rehearsal of movement without physical execution, is a key technique in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), known for eliciting cortical modulations similar to those exhibited during real movement. Beyond cortical effects, MI could also modulate spinal cord processing, which offers additional potential for neurorehabilitation in conditions like spinal cord injury (SCI) and stroke, where BCIs are used for therapy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Material and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To investigate the interactions of MI with both the cortex and the spinal cord, we employed both transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and trans-spinal magnetic stimulation (TSMS) while recording brain and muscle activities.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results and conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>With proper coil orientation, TSMS elicited lateralized MEPs in ipsilateral forearm muscles at significantly shorter latencies than M1-evoked MEPs, confirming direct spinal cord activation. Importantly, right-hand kinesthetic MI selectively facilitated TSMS-evoked MEPs in the stimulated ipsilateral side only, providing direct evidence that MI modulates spinal cord excitability. Moreover, TSMS-evoked cortical responses were modulated by imagery, demonstrating that MI increases cortical processing of the ascending spinal volley. This within-group demonstration of MI affecting both cortical and spinal circuitry underscores its potential as a powerful strategy for BCI-driven neurorehabilitation, including pairing MI with spinal magnetic stimulation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fncir.2026.1809125","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T05:39:33Z","timestamp":1777527573000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Motor imagery affects both cortical and spinal circuitry: a transcranial and trans-spinal magnetic stimulation study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Asma","family":"Benachour","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Vladimir Zelman Center for Neurobiology and Brain Rehabilitation, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology","place":["Moscow, Russia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nikolay","family":"Syrov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Computational Neurology Group, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr University Bochum","place":["Bochum, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mikhail","family":"Lebedev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in the Field of Artificial Intelligence, Lomonosov Moscow State University","place":["Moscow, Russia"]},{"name":"Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Lomonosov Moscow State University","place":["Moscow, Russia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"906","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaa5417","article-title":"Decoding motor imagery from the posterior parietal cortex of a tetraplegic human","volume":"348","author":"Aflalo","year":"2015","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brs.2021.01.018","article-title":"Pinging the brain with transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals cortical reactivity in time and space","volume":"14","author":"Ahn","year":"2021","journal-title":"Brain Stimul."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e70048","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.70048","article-title":"Methodological choices matter: a systematic comparison of TMS-EEG studies targeting the primary motor cortex","volume":"45","author":"Beck","year":"2024","journal-title":"Hum. 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