Mental practice and acquisition of motor skills: examples from sports training and surgical education.

Full Abstract

Learning surgical skills involves both fine and gross motor skills, and necessitates performance in stressful situations. This environment is similar to the environment in which an athlete performs. Mental imagery has been used successfully in training athletes of all levels of proficiency and enhances both motor skills and motivational skills of performing under stress. The literature of using mental imagery to train surgeons is limited to the teaching of simple surgical skills, but shows promise as another tool to teach technical skills.

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Author information

Author/s: Rogers, Rebecca G (RG);

Affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, MSC10 5580, ACC Fourth Floor, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. rrogers(-atsign-)salud.unm.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America (Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jun; vol 33 (issue 2) : pp 297-304, ix

Dates: Created 2006/05/01; Completed 2006/07/20;

PMID: 16647605, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Motor Skills
Practice (Psychology)
Specialties, Surgical - education
Sports - education

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