Motor Imagery and Its Practical Application (original) (raw)

Motor imagery is a cognitive-perceptive process and is the mental performance of movements not accompanied by any kind of peripheral (muscular) activity. Visual and kinesthetic forms of motor imagery are discriminated. In the former, a person produces a visual image of their own movement, seeing it as though it was a third person's. In the latter case, subjects generate the kinesthetic sensation of movement. In recent years, studies of the function of motor imagery have involved paying special attention to a number of assumptions. Firstly, imaginary movements have been shown to be linked to conscious activation of areas of the brain which are also involved in the preparation and execution of the movement . This can be used in the neurorehabilitation of patients with profound post-stroke pareses, as existing methods of motor training, based on active use of the paralyzed limb, are inappropriate for this category of patients. This type of training can also be used in patients with mild motor impairments for training to better movement planning and greater accuracy of execution . Secondly, kinesthetic motor imagery is the most common paradigm for the use of noninvasive brain-computer interfaces , so studies of the physiological bases of this process may facilitate its further development. Finally, this nervous system function has as yet received little study, so fundamental neurophysiological studies using contemporary neuroimaging methods will allow deeper understanding of the physiology of the motor nervous system and the mechanisms of neuroplasticity.