Motor imagery: Perception or action?

Abstract

Abstract--Motor imagery has been studied using subjective, behavioural and physiological methods and this paper reviews theoretical and practical issues from all three viewpoints. Attempts to measure motor imagery on a subjective scale have met with limited success but alternative methods are proposed. Research on mental practice suggests a number of different processes may be needed to explain the variety and variability of effects obtained. Recent studies of spatial and motor working memory signify the importance of a primarily visuo-spatial component in which actions are consciously represented together with a more properly motoric component which must be activated to generate either images or overt actions. Finally the question of whether motor imagery is primarily perceptual or motoric in character does not have a simple neurophysiological answer due to the highly distributed nature of motor control. Nevertheless some of the key mechanisms serving both spatial and motoric components have been provisionally identified.

Mental object rotation and the planning of hand movements

“…Our view of mental object rotation as a covert action is based in part on the fact that mental object rotation has been shown to interact with both hand movement planning (as is shown here) and the perception of object rotation (as was shown by Jolicoeur & Cavanagh, 1992). However, because it is unclear whether the nature of motor imagery is purely motoric or perceptual and motoric (see Annett, 1995), in the case of planned hand movements it remains unclear whether motor codes or visuospatial codes are interfering with mental object rotation. In other words, we cannot decide whether the imagined movement or the imagined goal of the planned hand action is causing the interference effect.…”

Perceptual Integration of Illusory and Imagined Kinesthetic Images

“…Subjective reports about the kinesthetic sensations associated with imagined movements are better known from the (Annett, 1995;Mulder, 2007). What constantly emerges is the fact that these sensations clearly seem to be intentional and involve a sense of ownership.…”

The mental representation of music notation: Notational audiation.

“…First, a fourth condition was added to the previous three-condition (NR-RD-PI) format: Virtual drumming (VD) consisted of a virtual music performance on an imaginary drum kit and involved overt motions of both arms and legs but without sound production. Annett (1995) referred to this variety of imaginary action as "voluntary manipulation of an imaginary object" (p. 1395). Second, taking into account a lower level of mental effort required to decode the groove figures compared with the EMs used in Experiments 1 and 2, we halved the allotted music notation reading time per item from 60 s to 30 s. Third, although the location of testing was somewhat isolated, it was still within the confines of a commercial setting (i.e., a music store).…”