The influence of motor imagery on the learning of a fine hand motor skill

Abstract

Motor imagery has been argued to affect the acquisition of motor skills. The present study examined the specificity of motor imagery on the learning of a fine hand motor skill by employing a modified discrete sequence production task: the Go/NoGo DSP task. After an informative cue, a response sequence had either to be executed, imagined, or withheld. To establish learning effects, the experiment was divided into a practice phase and a test phase. In the latter phase, we compared mean response times and accuracy during the execution of unfamiliar sequences, familiar imagined sequences, and familiar executed sequences. The electroencephalogram was measured in the practice phase to compare activity between motor imagery, motor execution, and a control condition in which responses should be withheld. Event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related lateralizations (ERLs) showed strong similarities above cortical motor areas on trials requiring motor imagery and motor execution, while a major difference was found with trials on which the response sequence should be withheld. Behavioral results from the test phase showed that response times and accuracy improved after physical and mental practice relative to unfamiliar sequences (so-called sequence-specific learning effects), although the effect of motor learning by motor imagery was smaller than the effect of physical practice. These findings confirm that motor imagery also resembles motor execution in the case of a fine hand motor skill.

How effector-specific is the effect of sequence learning by motor execution and motor imagery?

“…In the current study, better motor performance was observed for previously executed and imagined sequences as compared with unfamiliar sequences, indicating sequence-specific learning effects. These results replicate the learning effects that we found in our previous studies (Sobierajewicz et al 2016 , 2017 ). In the case of learning a sequence of movements, it is important to differentiate sequence-specific learning which is based on sequence-specific representations at the central and motor processing level (Verwey 2015 ) from sequence-aspecific learning which is more related with an improved ability to decode stimuli or familiarization with the task (e.g., keeping the fingers in a suitable posture), etc.…”

“…In our earlier research, we were especially interested in the learning of a fine sequential motor skill by motor imagery (Sobierajewicz et al 2016 , 2017 ), which can be defined as the mental simulation of a movement without producing an overt action (Jeannerod 2001 ). A question that emerged from our studies was whether learning by motor imagery involves a cognitive and/or a motor level.…”

“…It is well known that motor skills can be acquired not only by repeating (i.e., physical practice) a particular movement, but also by motor imagery (Jeannerod 2001 ; Allami et al 2008 ; Doussoulin and Rehbein 2011 ). It has additionally been argued that motor imagery relies on similar processes and obeys the same rules as motor execution (e.g., with regard to the timing and brain mechanisms underlying motor imagery and motor execution (Decety et al 1989 ; Xu et al 2014 ; Sobierajewicz et al 2016 , 2017 ). However, the effect of motor imagery on sequence learning is not as strong as the effect of physical practice (Feltz and Landers 1983 ; Hird et al 1991 ; Gentili 2006 ; Gentili et al 2010 ; Schuster et al 2011 ; Debarnot et al 2015 ; Gentili and Papaxanthis 2015 ; Sobierajewicz et al 2016 ), indicating that motor execution is more effective in acquisition of a motor skill.…”

The Role of Movement Representation Techniques in the Motor Learning Process: A Neurophysiological Hypothesis and a Narrative Review

“…The combination of MI and targeted memory reactivation showed the largest early performance improvement, as indexed by the combined measure of speed and accuracy Sobierajewicz et al 2016 [39] HS (n = 24) 6 males and 18 females range 21 to 28 years.…”

Efeitos da prática mental associada à fisioterapia motora sobre a marcha e o risco de quedas na doença de Parkinson: estudo piloto

“…Better motor learning is of great importance in the rehabilitation of patients with PD, because, besides allowing the storage and consolidation of information related to a particular motor task in long-term memory, it increases the spatial and temporal accuracy of movement. Motor planning contributes to motor rehabilitation, allowing the organized execution of a sequence of movements 26,27 .…”