Motor imagery and sport performance

Abstract

In the present review, how to measure motor imagery ability, brain activity during motor imagery, the benefits of motor imagery practice, and the influence of sensory inputs on motor imagery, are summarized. First, the classification of motor imagery is explained. Many methods have been utilized to evaluate motor imagery ability. For example, questionnaires, mental chronometry, and mental rotation tasks have been used in the psychological approach. Brain activity has been measured utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and electroencephalography (EEG). Some brain regions are activated motor execution in both and motor imagery, including the supplementary motor area (SMA), the premotor cortex (PM) and the parietal cortex. Although motor imagery is done without movement or muscle contraction, sensory input from the periphery interacts with motor imagery. Brain activation during imagery of an action, as assessed by TMS, is stronger when sensory inputs resemble those present during the actual execution of the action. Many studies have provided evidence of the effects of motor imagery practice on basic motor skills and sport performance. Most elite athletes (70-90%) report that they use motor imagery to improve performance, and professional players, as compared to amateurs, utilize imagery practice more often. Many studies have confirmed that motor imagery practice can also be useful not only in sports, but also for improving performance in patient rehabilitation programs.

Effector-independent brain activity during motor imagery of the upper and lower limbs: An fMRI study

“…Many studies have reported significant effects of motor imagery practice on improvement of motor skill, muscle strength and joint flexibility [11,17,31,34,47]. In addition, motor imagery has been utilized to create a brain computer interface [37].…”

The vividness of imagining emotional feelings in positive situations is attenuated in non‐clinical dysphoria and predicts the experience of positive emotional feelings

“…VMIQ-R is a validated instrument that may allow this separation (Callow & Roberts, 2010). Moreover, it has been extensively used in the research of motor imagery across the domains of sport (Mizuguchi, Nakata, Uchida, & Kanosue, 2012), motor learning (Gentili, Han, Schweighofer, & Papaxanthis, 2010), and psychopathology (Lallart, Jouvent, Herrmann, Beauchet, & Allali, 2012). Also, the VMIQ-R' format allows the measurement of individual differences for the item-by-item vividness of imagery across different modalities for the same items.…”

Tipos de imaginación motora y procesamiento predictivo

“…Los deportistas utilizan la imaginación para mejorar o aprender habilidades motoras Kizildag y Tiryaki (2012), lidiar con lesiones que no permiten la práctica de una destreza o mejorar la fuerza muscular y la Tipos de imaginación motora y procesamiento predictivo Types of motor imagination and predictive processing DOI: https://doi.org/10.21501/16920945.2787 flexibilidad articular. Una gran cantidad de estudios han demostrado que el rendimiento deportivo mejora con la práctica de esta técnica, aunque cabe destacar que su efectividad no es tan alta como el entrenamiento con ejecución de movimientos Mizuguchi et al (2012).…”