The Characteristics And Neural Substrates Of Facilitation Effects On Motor Imagery Induced By Sport-specific Implements

Motor imagery is a mental process of rehearsal or simulation of a given movement without overt output.Motor imagery has been suggested to have functional equivalence to motor execution and be effective in improving motor performance and facilitating motor function rehabilitation.Therefore,motor imagery has been widely used as a supplementary or alternative intervention in sport or medical rehabilitation.Motor imagery is affected by a series of factors.In sport,learning and enhancing expertise skill is all that matters;meanwhile,the utilization of implement is indispensable in most sports.However,how the motor experience of implements affects the process of motor imagery remains unclear.Based on the motor simulation theory and the forward model theory,the present study was performed in a(multi-level)cross-sectional paradigm.Using mental chronometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),we compared the behavioral performance and functional brain responses of motor imagery in groups of different(levels of)expertise in different somatosensory input conditions,and/or during imagining of different tasks.In this way,the present study is intended to reveal the effect sport-specific implement on motor imagery,thus,has promising theoretical and practical implications.The following main results were found:(1)Basketball players exhibited better performance of motor imagery while holding a basketball compared to that while holding nothing;(2)Experts showed lower brain activity in with-ball condition compared to without-ball condition while novices were not affected by the manipulation of experimental condition;(3)Different patterns of cortical activation in regions related to cognitive,motor control and perceptual processes were observed with increasing levels of motor expertise;(4)For the elite group,these cortical regions showed higher activation in the without-ball condition compared to the with-ball condition while the opposite trend was found in intermediate players;(5)Better performance but lower neural activity was observed during motor imagery of expertise-specific movements than during motor imagery of nonspecific movements;Based on the main results,the following conclusions were reached:(1)The effect of implement is different among different expertise levels;(2)Expertise-specific implement facilitates motor imagery whereas nonspecific implement disrupts motor imagery;(3)Motor imagery of expertise-specific movements is easier than nonspecific movements.The effect of somatosensory input from an implement on motor imagery is experiencedependent.In short,motor experience associated to implement-use affects motor imagery.