Motor imagery and action observation: cognitive tools for rehabilitation

By T. Mulder. Journal of neural transmission, 2007

660 citations recorded by the source corpus.

SummaryRehabilitation, for a large part may be seen as a learning process where old skills have to be re-acquired and new ones have to be learned on the basis of practice. Active exercising creates a flow of sensory (afferent) information. It is known that motor recovery and motor learning have many aspects in common. Both are largely based on response-produced sensory information. In the present article it is asked whether active physical exercise is always necessary for creating this sensory flow. Numerous studies have indicated that motor imagery may result in the same plastic changes in the motor system as actual physical practice. Motor imagery is the mental execution of a movement without any overt movement or without any peripheral (muscle) activation. It has been shown that motor imagery leads to the activation of the same brain areas as actual movement. The present article discusses the role that motor imagery may play in neurological rehabilitation. Furthermore, it will be discussed to what extent the observation of a movement performed by another subject may play a similar role in learning. It is concluded that, although the clinical evidence is still meager, the use of motor imagery in neurological rehabilitation may be defended on theoretical grounds and on the basis of the results of experimental studies with healthy subjects.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/300700957c16ab99d643bf3fae726307e2569049

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Citations in the corpus

A comprehensive review of EEG-based brain–computer interface paradigms (2019, positive): “As a result, investigation of relationships between EEG signals and upper limb movement, real and imaginary, has become a fascinating area of research in recent years [26, 27].”
Cognitive motor processes: the role of motor imagery in the study of motor representations. (2009, background): “Thismight bedue to a trend toward slightlydiminished imagery capacity in the aged (Mulder et al., 2007).”
Best practice for motor imagery: a systematic literature review on motor imagery training elements in five different disciplines (2011, methodology): “The MI technique has been adopted in other research areas (education, medicine, music and sports), where the beneficial effect of MI added to PP has been confirmed, and 27 reviews summarise the research findings in those fields [1-27].”
An end-to-end deep learning approach to MI-EEG signal classification for BCIs (2018, background): “U It shows promise to act as substitute exercises in situations where there is no residual motor function, or to prevent exhaustion (Lotze & Halsband, 2006; Stippich et al., 2002; Mulder, 2007).”