Research article summary (published 28 Feb 2008):

Effect of imagined movement speed on subsequent motor performance.

Full Abstract

Researchers realize that motor imagery (MI) duration is closely linked to actual motor action duration. In 2 experiments, the authors investigated the effect of changing MI speed on actual movement duration over a 3-week training period. Experiment 1 involved 2 series of body movements that 24 participants mentally performed faster or slower than their actual execution speeds. The fast MI group's actual times decreased on subsequent performance. Participants in Experiment 2 were 21 skilled athletes who increased (decreased) their well-rehearsed actual movement times after MI training at a slow (fast) speed. The effect was task-related, however: MI affected only self-initiated movement. The effect of MI on actual speed execution supports the ideomotor theory because anticipation of sensory consequences of actions is mentally represented.

Author information

Author/s: Louis, Magali (M); Guillot, Aymeric (A); Maton, Sylvain (S); Doyon, Julien (J); Collet, Christian (C);

Affiliation: Centre de Recherche et d'Innovation sur le Sport, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, Lyon, France.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of motor behavior (J Mot Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Mar; vol 40 (issue 2) : pp 117-32

Dates: Created 2008/04/10; Completed 2008/06/03;

PMID: 18400678, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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.

Adolescent Adult Arm Athletic Performance - physiology Female Humans Imagination - physiology

Male Martial Arts - physiology Movement - physiology Practice (Psychology) Psychomotor Performance - physiology Reaction Time - physiology Reference Values

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