Effects of Mental Practice on Balance in Elderly Women

Abstract

This experimental field study examined the potential usefulness of mental practice for improving physical performance in health care. Ideokinetic facilitation, which involves the use of idealized visual and kinesthetic mental images, was used as mental practice. Thirty-six women over the age of 70 were assigned to one of three intervention groups: Group A, nonsense; Group B, relaxation; or Group C, ideokinetic facilitation. Baseline and final measures of one-legged balance time were compared after a three-day intervention period. Results showed significant improvement between baseline and final measures within Group C only (t = 2.64, p less than or equal to .05). The improvement in Group C, however, was not significantly more than the improvement in Groups A and B. This study suggests that mental practice of a physical task can improve performance and may be of use to the physical therapy clinician.

The impact of mental practice on stroke patients' postural balance

“…Additionally, improving the functional mobility and balance after applying a period of mental practice was already reported in elderly [37], and in CVA [4,11].…”

Physical Performance Measures That Predict Faller Status in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

“…There is some evidence that mental practice can improve elderly women's performance on the OLST (9). Whether other treatment programs, such as vestibular therapy, can improve balance has yet to be determined.…”

Mental Practice in Chronic Stroke

“…MP increases motorskill learning and performance in rehabilitative settings, [7][8][9] and the same neural and muscular structures are activated when movements are mentally practiced as during physical practice of the same skills. 10 -14 Other similarities between MP and physical practice include: (1) the time taken to mentally and physically perform movements is highly similar 15 ; (2) during MP, the speed accuracy tradeoff (ie, Fitts Law) is maintained 16 ; and (3) MP produces similar autonomic events as physical practice of the same skills.…”