Motor imagery effectiveness for mirror reversed movements

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2011 Mar;11(1):22-31. doi: 10.3758/s13415-010-0008-8.

Abstract

Physical practice is known to enhance motor adaptation skills, which refer to the individual ability to compensate for environmental changes. So far, it is still unknown whether a similar effect can be observed following motor imagery (MI). Thirty-nine participants were tested during a joystick tracking task under both normal and mirror conditions (i.e., the inductive direction of the joystick was reversed), before and after a physical practice or MI training phase. Eye movements and electromyographic activity were recorded during MI. Motor performance was also evaluated after a 6 h interval during daytime. As compared to the control group, the results revealed that both MI and physical practice improved motor performance in the mirror condition, during the post-training test. Furthermore, the time to complete the task was further reduced after 6 hours, both in the normal and mirror conditions. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of MI for learning mirror-reversed movements, and for the consolidation process that follows motor adaptation.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Electromyography / methods
  • Electrooculography / methods
  • Female
  • Fixation, Ocular / physiology
  • Humans
  • Imagery, Psychotherapy*
  • Imagination / physiology*
  • Male
  • Movement / physiology*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Time Factors
  • Young Adult