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Motor and Kinesthetic Imagery

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Multisensory Imagery

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the functional, ­physiological, and neural characteristics of motor imagery. The literature reviewed shows that motor imagery shares many characteristics with motor executions, both at a behavioral and a physiological level. Furthermore, functional imaging studies show that imagining a movement activates a motor network that largely overlaps with that involved when actively performing a movement. However, the involvement of the primary motor cortex in motor imagery is still under debate. The range of behavioral, physiological, and neural effects of motor imagery also overlap with those reported during action observation, although activation of a motor network through imagery or observation may be less extensive than during action execution, with observation perhaps providing the least activation. Thus, the idea that motor imagery evokes similar motor representations as execution of movements may be used in a range of different applications such as motor (re)learning in sport psychology and rehabilitation of motor disorders. Moreover, brain-computer interfaces are now in development, using mental processes to interface with computers, which may be of great relevance to paralyzed patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, Utrecht, 3584 CS, The Netherlands

    Helen A. Anema

  2. Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    H. Chris Dijkerman

  3. Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    H. Chris Dijkerman

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  1. Helen A. Anema
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Correspondence to Helen A. Anema .

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  1. , Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, WOODRUFF CIRCLE WMB 6207 101, ATLANTA, 30329, Georgia, USA

    Simon Lacey

  2. , School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool, L69 7ZA, Montserrat

    Rebecca Lawson

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Anema, H.A., Dijkerman, H.C. (2013). Motor and Kinesthetic Imagery. In: Lacey, S., Lawson, R. (eds) Multisensory Imagery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5879-1_6

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