Motor imagery enhances performance beyond the imagined action

Abstract

Motor imagery is frequently utilized to improve the performance of specific target movements in sports and rehabilitation. In this study, we show that motor imagery can facilitate learning of not only the imagined target movements but also sequentially linked overt movements. Hybrid sequences comprising imagined and physically executed segments allowed participants to learn specific movement characteristics of the executed segments when they were consistently associated with specific imagined segments. Electrophysiological recordings revealed that the degree of event-related synchronization in the alpha and beta bands during a basic motor imagery task was correlated with imagery-evoked motor learning. Thus, both behavioral and neural evidence indicate that motor imagery’s benefits extend beyond the imagined movements, improving performance in linked overt movements. This provides decisive evidence for the functional equivalence of imagined and overt movements and suggests applications for imagery in sports and rehabilitation.