Authors: Muto, H., Nakai, R., Taniguchi, N., Yagi, M., Fukumoto, Y., Okada, S., Okada, S., & Kobayashi, M. (武藤 拓之・中井 隆介・谷口 匡史・八木 優英・福元 喜啓・岡田 笙吾・岡田紗也花・小林 政史)

Title: Reduced human-body advantage in mental rotation among patients with
knee osteoarthritis (心的回転における身体優位性は変形性膝関節症患者では減少する)

Journal(書誌情報): Experimental Brain Research, 243(11), Article 234

doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105172

論文URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-025-07179-5

Abstract:
Mental rotation can be performed more efficiently for objects that resemble the human body than for abstract objects. This human-body advantage is thought to reflect the involvement of body representations and motor processes. The present study investigated whether this advantage is reduced in older adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA), a condition associated with motor degeneration and altered body representation. Fifty-nine women with knee OA and thirty-six age-matched healthy controls completed a chronometric mental rotation task involving cube-shaped stimuli with or without a face. Results showed a significant human-body advantage in the control group but not in the knee OA group. This group difference remained even after controlling for body mass index and functional mobility, suggesting that the reduced advantage in the knee OA group may be associated with OA-related impairments such as disruptions in body schema or motor imagery. An exploratory analysis found no significant associations between the magnitude of the human-body advantage and clinical measures of knee OA severity (radiographic grade, symptom scores, gait-related self-efficacy, and functional mobility). These findings suggest that intact body representations may play a role in supporting the human-body advantage in mental rotation. They may also inform assessment of body representation in OA.

著者Contact先の email: mutopsy[at]omu.ac.jp（[at]を@に変更してください。） (武藤拓之)

日本語によるコメント:
変形性膝関節症（膝OA）は，膝関節の軟骨の変性や摩耗により痛みや可動域の制限が生じる慢性疾患で，高齢者に多く見られます。これまでの研究から，OA患者は実際の身体機能だけでなく身体表象の機能低下を示すことが知られています。本研究では，膝OAを有する高齢女性（膝OA群）と健常な高齢女性（統制群）に心的回転課題を実施し，身体優位性（抽象物体よりも人の身体に似せた物体の方が効率的に心的回転できる現象）の大きさを比較しました。その結果，身体優位性は統制群では明確に認められたのに対し，膝OA群ではほとんど見られませんでした。この群間差は，BMIや歩行能力を統計的に統制しても残存したことから，膝OAに伴う身体表象の障害が身体優位性の減少に関与している可能性が示唆されました。（武藤）

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