The Implications of Motor and Cognitive Inhibition for Hot and Cool Executive Functions: The Case of Quadrato Motor Training

Abstract

Enabling the ceasing of ongoing or prepotent responses and the controlling of interference, motor inhibition facilitates the development of executive functions (EFs) such as thought before action, decision-making, self-regulation of affect, motivation, and arousal. In the current paper, a characterization is offered of the relationship between motor inhibition and the executive functioning system, in the context of a proposed division into predominantly affective (hot) and cognitive (cool) components corresponding to neural trajectories originating in the prefrontal cortex. This division is central to understanding the effects of a specifically-structured sensorimotor movement training practice, known as Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), on hot and cool EFs. QMT's effects on crucial mechanisms of integrating different EF components are discussed.

Inner Navigation and Theta Activity: From Movement to Cognition and Hypnosis According to the Sphere Model of Consciousness

“…QMT requires a high level of attention divided between the body and the spatial coordinates incorporated in the quadrato space, as well as silent waiting for the next instruction. Previous studies showed that QMT enhances theta activity and improves cognition (for a recent review, see [163,164]). At the behavioral level, these changes have been associated with improvements in cognitive and psycho-emotional functioning [162,[165][166][167], considered important aspects of health and well-being.…”

Emotional Intelligence, Identification, and Self-Awareness According to the Sphere Model of Consciousness

“…Thus a main feature of the QMT is inhibitory control needed to make a decision related to the instruction, as well as required in continuing to the following instruction rather than stopping when a misstep occurs [28]. This type of inhibitory control is directly related to the ability to regulate emotions through attention when, for instance, a mistake occurs or a distracting thought or inappropriate emotion arises, requiring "active waiting" [29].…”

“…More specifically, by working with the minimal bodily self through paradigms like the QMT, which require us to be present in the current moment, we can enhance emotional regulation and in turn increase EI. The tasks required of QMT practitioners involve time perception and timing [63,64], emotional regulation [29], and the capacity to enhance self-determination through attention [65]. Keeping in mind that the central point in the sphere is thought to represent an equilibrium state in which attention is divided between extrinsic and intrinsic stimuli [45], it is notable that QMT requires intentional division of attention between the internal object -the body -and external surroundings, as well as sustained attention; together, these might lead to enhanced self-awareness, in which the somatic focus is mediated by alpha modulation.…”

Age-Related Differential Effects of School-Based Sitting and Movement Meditation on Creativity and Spatial Cognition: A Pilot Study

“…While meditation has been generally categorized into these two types (in which focused attention meditation requires voluntary focusing of attention on a chosen object, and open monitoring meditation involves non-reactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment), most meditative techniques lie somewhere on a continuum between the poles of these two methods [ 55 ]. For example, QMT includes both aspects, requiring both divided attention between body and external verbal commands, in parallel to waiting to the next command [ 56 ].…”