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Motor imagery (MI) is the process in which subjects imagine executing a body movement with a strong kinesthetic component from a first-person perspective. The individual capacity to elicit such mental images is not universal but varies within and between subjects. Neuroimaging studies have shown that these inter-as well as intra-individual differences in imagery quality mediate the amplitude of neural activity during MI on a group level. However, these analyses were not sensitive to forms of representation that may not map onto a simple modulation of overall amplitude. Therefore, the present study asked how far the subjective impression of motor imagery vividness is reflected by a spatial neural code, and how patterns of neural activation in different motor regions relate to specific imagery impressions. During fMRI scanning, 20 volunteers imagined three different types of right-hand actions. After each imagery trial, subjects were asked to evaluate the perceived vividness of their imagery. A correlation analysis compared the rating differences and neural dissimilarity values of the rating groups separately for each region of interest. Results showed a significant positive correlation in the left vPMC and right IPL, indicating that these regions particularly reflect perceived imagery vividness in that similar rated trials evoke more similar neural patterns. A decoding analysis revealed that the vividness of the motor image related systematically to the action specificity of neural activation patterns in left vPMC and right SPL. Imagined actions accompanied by higher vividness ratings were significantly more distinguishable within these areas. Altogether, results showed that spatial patterns of neural activity within the human motor cortices reflect the individual vividness of imagined actions. Hence, the findings reveal a link between the subjective impression of motor imagery vividness and objective physiological markers.

With a growing body of research devoted to uncovering regions of the brain implicated in action observation following various action-related experiences, including sport, we ask what we know from this research, and what we still need to know, as it pertains to sport and the brain. To do this, we review and integrate knowledge garnered from developmental work, short-term motor learning studies, and most significantly sport athletes across varying skill levels. We consider various neurophysiological methods, including TMS, fMRI, and EEG, which have been used to help uncover brain regions involved in action-skilled observation. We are particularly interested in how these processes are related to action prediction and the detection of deceptive actions among athlete groups. This research is considered within broad theoretical frameworks related to action-simulation and prediction, although our main focus is on the brain regions that have been implicated in skilled action observation and the implications of this research for knowledge and further study of sport expertise.

When two or more people aim to produce joint action outcomes they need to coordinate their individual actions in space and time. Successful joint action performance has been reported to depend, among others, on visual and somatosensory information provided to the joint actors. This study investigated whether and how the systematic manipulation of visual information modulates real-time joint action when dyads performed a whole-body joint balance task. To this end, we introduced the Joint Action Board (JAB) where partners guided a ball through a maze towards a virtual hole by jointly shifting their weight on the board under three visual conditions: (1) the Follower had neither visual access to the Leader nor to the maze; (2) the Follower had no visual access to the maze but to the Leader; (3) the Follower had full visual access to both the Leader and to the maze. Joint action performance was measured as completion time of the maze task; interpersonal coordination was examined by means of kinematic analyses of both partners' motor behaviour. We predicted that systematically adding visual to the available haptic information would result in a significant increase in joint performance and that Leaders would change their coordination behavior depending on these conditions. Results showed that adding visual information to haptics led to an increase in joint action performance in a Leader-Follower relationship in a joint balance task. In addition, interpersonal coordination behavior (i.e. sway range of motion, time-lag between partner's bodies etc.) changed dependent on the provided visual information between partners in the jointly executed task.

The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) is a functional test for identifying deficits in the motor performance of children. The test contains a ball-catching task that requires the children to catch a self-thrown ball with one hand. As the task can be executed with a variety of different catching strategies, it is assumed that the task success can also vary considerably. Even though it is not clear, whether the performance merely de-pends on the catching skills or also to some extent on the throwing skills, the M-ABC2 takes into account only the movement outcome. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine 1) to what extent the throwing accuracy has an effect on the children's catching performance and 2) to what extent the throwing accuracy influences their choice of catching strategy.In line with the test manual, the children's catching performance was quantified on basis of the number of correctly caught balls. The throwing accuracy and the catching strat-egy were quantified by applying a kinematic analysis on the ball's trajectory and the hand movements. Based on linear regression analyses, we then investigated the relation between throwing accuracy, catching performance and catching strategy. The results show that an increased throwing accuracy is significantly correlated with an increased catching performance. Moreover, a higher throwing accuracy is significantly correlated with a longer duration of the hand on the ball’s parabola, which indicates that throwing the ball more accurately could enable the children to effectively reduce the re-quirements on temporal precision. As the children's catching performance and their choice of catching strategy in the ball-catching task of the M-ABC2 are substantially determined by their throwing accuracy, the test evaluation should not be based on the movement outcome alone, but should also take into account the children's throwing performance. Our findings could be of particular value for the development of simple but informative catching assessments, and may provide addi-tional insights into the causes of performance deficits in ball catching.

Team sports place high demands on visuospatial and other cognitive skills. However, there is a lack of research on visuospatial skills of elite athletes and there are heterogeneous results on basic cognitive skills of this population. Therefore, this series of studies tested different cognitive skills in elite team sports athletes. In Experiment 1, elite athletes were compared to recreational athletes, but no differences were observed between the groups in choice response time (CRT) and mental rotation (MR). To see if differences could be observed when the tested groups had a greater difference in expertise and more representative stimuli, in Experiment 2 we tested CRT and MR of elite athletes who had higher level of expertise, and we also used three-dimensional human stimuli. Overall, we still found no differences in MR; however, elite athletes did have shorter CRTs. In Experiment 3, instead of testing MR, we compared elite athletes’ and recreational athletes’ basic cognitive skills, such as processing speed, letter readout speed, memory span, and sustained attention. We found that elite athletes only performed better in sustained attention. Building on this data, in a supplementary analysis (Experiment 4) we tested whether MR and CRTs are correlated with basic cognitive skills. Results show that processing speed is the best predibator for MR, whereas letter readout speed explains most of the variance in CRTs. Finally, we discuss these findings against the backdrop of expertise and offer implications for future studies on mental rotation.

While the benefits of both an external focus of attention and of a longer quiet eye duration have been well researched in a wide range of sporting activities, little is known about the interaction of these two phenomena and how a potential interaction might influence performance. It was this study’s aim to investigate the interaction and potential effect on performance by using typical focus of attention instructions in a dart throwing task and examining both the quiet eye and performance outcome. The results replicate neither the benefit of an external focus of attention nor the benefit of a longer quiet eye duration. However, an interaction was observed, as quiet eye was prolonged by an earlier onset and later offset in the internal focus condition only. As the typical effect of a performance benefit due to an external focus could not be replicated, the interaction must be interpreted with caution. The results are discussed and interpreted in light of the inhibition hypothesis and possible avenues for future research are suggested.

Background Recent research has shown that internal (body-related) attention-focus instructions disrupt motor learning and performance, whereas paying attention to the environmental effects of movements (external focus) leads to better performance than an internal focus [see, for reviews, Wulf, G. (2007). Attentional focus and motor learning: a review of 10 years of research. E-Journal Bewegung und Training, 1, 4–14.; Wulf, G., & Prinz, W. (2001). Directing attention to movement effects enhances learning: a review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8, 648–660.]. However, Beilock's studies [Beilock, S. L., Bertenthal, B. I., McCoy, A. M., & Carr, T. H. (2004). Haste does not always make waste: expertise, direction of attention, and speed versus accuracy in performing sensorimotor skills. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 373–379.] suggest that an internal focus is detrimental in experts but not in novices. Because detrimental effects of consciously attending to movements have generally been measured by performance scores such as accuracy scores or reaction times, it remains unclear how internal and external attentional-focus instructions influence movement kinematics when learning a new skill. To fill this gap, the present study investigated attentional-focus effects on a biomechanical level. Methods A video of an expert juggler demonstrating a two-ball juggling task was presented to juggling novices. Experimental groups were given either body-related (internal group) or ball-related (external group) verbal instructions or no attention-guiding instructions (control group). In the retention phase without attention-guiding instructions, the body-movement and ball-flight aspects of performance focused on in the verbal instruction were subjected to biomechanical analyses. Results and Conclusions Juggling performance improved equally in all three groups. However, internally vs. externally instructed acquisition phases had differential effects on the kinematics of the upper body as well as ball trajectories when performing the juggling task. Remarkably, ball trajectories in the control group who received no specific attentional cueing were similar to those in the externally instructed group. This suggests that task-relevant information is picked up independently of instructions, and that external instructions provide redundant information. Internal instructions for object-related tasks, however, may confront novice learners with the need to process additional information. As a result, task difficulty might be unnecessarily enhanced in an observational learning setting.

Motor imagery is viewed as a window to cognitive motor processes and particularly to motor control. Mental simulation theory [Jeannerod, M., 2001. Neural simulation of action: a unifying mechanism for motor cognition. NeuroImage 14, 103-109] stresses that cognitive motor processes such as motor imagery and action observation share the same representations as motor execution. This article presents an overview of motor imagery studies in cognitive psychology and neuroscience that support and extend predictions from mental simulation theory. In general, behavioral data as well as fMRI and TMS data demonstrate that motor areas in the brain play an important role in motor imagery. After discussing results on a close overlap between mental and actual performance durations, the review focuses specifically on studies reporting an activation of primary motor cortex during motor imagery. This focus is extended to studies on motor imagery in patients. Motor imagery is also analyzed in more applied fields such as mental training procedures in patients and athletes. These findings support the notion that mental training procedures can be applied as a therapeutic tool in rehabilitation and in applications for power training.

It is assumed that imagining oneself from a first-person perspective (1PP) is more embodied than a third-person perspective (3PP). Therefore, 1PP imagery should lead to more activity in motor and motor-related structures, and the postural configuration of one's own body should be particularly relevant in 1PP simulation. The present study investigated whether proprioceptive information on hand position is integrated similarly in 1PP and 3PP imagery of hand movements. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, 20 right-handed female college students watched video sequences of different hand movements with their right hand in a compatible versus incompatible posture and subsequently performed 1PP or 3PP imagery of the movement. Results showed stronger activation in left hemisphere motor and motor-related structures, especially the inferior parietal lobe, on 1PP compared with 3PP trials. Activation in the left inferior parietal lobe (parietal operculum, SII) and the insula was stronger in 1PP trials with compatible compared with incompatible posture. Thus, proprioceptive information on actual body posture is more relevant for 1PP imagery processes. Results support the embodied nature of 1PP imagery and indicate possible applications in athletic training or rehabilitation.

The action observation network (AON) is supposed to play a crucial role when athletes anticipate the effect of others' actions in sports such as tennis. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore whether motor expertise leads to a differential activation pattern within the AON during effect anticipation and whether spatial and motor anticipation tasks are associated with a differential activation pattern within the AON depending on participant expertise level. Expert (N = 16) and novice (N = 16) tennis players observed video clips depicting forehand strokes with the instruction to either indicate the predicted direction of ball flight (spatial anticipation) or to decide on an appropriate response to the observed action (motor anticipation). The experts performed better than novices on both tennis anticipation tasks, with the experts showing stronger neural activation in areas of the AON, namely, the superior parietal lobe, the intraparietal sulcus, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the cerebellum. When novices were contrasted with experts, motor anticipation resulted in stronger activation of the ventral premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, and the superior parietal lobe than spatial anticipation task did. In experts, the comparison of motor and spatial anticipation revealed no increased activation. We suggest that the stronger activation of areas in the AON during the anticipation of action effects in experts reflects their use of the more fine‐tuned motor representations they have acquired and improved during years of training. Furthermore, results suggest that the neural processing of different anticipation tasks depends on the expertise level. Hum Brain Mapp 35:4016–4034, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

When table tennis players anticipate the course of the ball while preparing their motor responses, they not only observe their opponents striking the ball but also listen to events such as the sound of racket–ball contact. Because visual stimuli can be detected more easily when accompanied by a sound, we assumed that complementary sensory audiovisual information would influence the anticipation of biological motion, especially when the racket–ball contact is not presented visually, but has to be inferred from continuous movement kinematics and an abrupt sound. Twenty-six observers were examined with fMRI while watching point-light displays (PLDs) of an opposing table tennis player. Their task was to anticipate the resultant ball flight. The sound was presented complementary to the veracious event or at a deviant time point in its kinematics. Results showed that participants performed best in the complementary condition. Using a region-of-interest approach, fMRI data showed that complementary audiovisual stimulation elicited higher activation in the left temporo-occipital middle temporal gyrus (MTGto), the left primary motor cortex, and the right anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS). Both hemispheres also revealed higher activation in the ventral premotor cortex (vPMC) and the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44). Ranking the behavioral effect of complementary versus conflicting audiovisual information over participants revealed an association between the complementary information and higher activation in the right vPMC. We conclude that the recruitment of movement representations in the auditory and visual modalities in the vPMC can be influenced by task-relevant cross-modal audiovisual interaction.

Jeannerod (2001) hypothesized that action execution, imagery, and observation are functionally equivalent. This led to the major prediction that these motor states are based on the same action-specific and even effector-specific motor representations. The present study examined whether hand and foot movements are represented in a somatotopic manner during action execution, imagery, and action observation. The experiment contained ten conditions: three execution conditions, three imagery conditions, three observation conditions, and one baseline condition. In the nine experimental conditions, participants had to execute, observe, or imagine right-hand extension/flexion movements or right-foot extension/flexion movements. The fMRI results showed a somatotopic organization within the contralateral premotor and primary motor cortex during motor imagery and motor execution. However, there was no clear somatotopic organization of action observation in the given regions of interest within the contralateral hemisphere, although observation of these movements activated these areas significantly.

Background Action observation leads to neural activation of the human premotor cortex. This study examined how the level of motor expertise (expert vs. novice) in ballroom dancing and the visual viewpoint (internal vs. external viewpoint) influence this activation within different parts of this area of the brain. Results Sixteen dance experts and 16 novices observed ballroom dance videos from internal or external viewpoints while lying in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. A conjunction analysis of all observation conditions showed that action observation activated distinct networks of premotor, parietal, and cerebellar structures. Experts revealed increased activation in the ventral premotor cortex compared to novices. An internal viewpoint led to higher activation of the dorsal premotor cortex. Conclusions The present results suggest that the ventral and dorsal premotor cortex adopt differential roles during action observation depending on the level of motor expertise and the viewpoint.

Jeannerod (2001) postulated that motor control and motor simulation states are functionally equivalent. If this is the case, the specifically relevant task parameters in online motor control should also be represented in motor imagery. We tested whether the different spatial accuracy demands of manual pointing movements are reflected on a neural level in motor imagery. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, 23 participants imagined hand movements that differed systematically in terms of pointing accuracy needs (i.e., none, low, high). In a low-accuracy condition, two big squares were presented visually prior to the imagery phase. These squares had to be pointed at alternately on a mental level. In the high-accuracy condition, two little squares had to be hit. As expected on the basis of speed-accuracy trade-off principles, results showed that participants required more time when accuracy of the imagined movements increased. The fMRI results showed a stepwise increase in activation in the anterior cerebellum and the anterior part of the superior parietal lobe (SPL) with rising accuracy needs. Moreover, we found increased activation of the anterior part of the SPL and of the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) when imagery included a square (i.e., in the low- and high-accuracy conditions) compared to the no-square condition. These areas have also been discussed in relation to online motor control, suggesting that specific task parameters relevant in the domain of motor control are also coded in motor imagery. We suggest that the functional equivalence of action states is due mostly to internal estimations of the expected sensory feedback in both motor control and motor imagery.

One finding in recent motor control and learning research is that an external focus (i.e., attending to environmental aspects) improves performance, whereas an internal focus (i.e., controlling bodily movements) impedes it. Despite being replicated in behavioral studies, the neurophysiological basis of this phenomenon remains largely unknown. The present authors separate global attention to actions into an external and an internal focus. Using a between-participants design, participants were either trained to attend to moving their fingers (internal focus) or to the keys to be hit (external focus) during learning a finger sequence. Subsequently, they applied functional magnetic resonance imaging under focus (internal/external), dual task, and move-only conditions. Results revealed higher activation in primary somatosensory and motor cortex for an external compared to an internal focus. The authors conclude that external participants focused on the task-related environment (i.e., the keys) to enhance tactile input to somatosensory areas that closely connect to motor areas.

The simulation concept suggested by Jeannerod (Neuroimage 14:S103-S109, 2001) defines the S-states of action observation and mental simulation of action as action-related mental states lacking overt execution. Within this framework, similarities and neural overlap between S-states and overt execution are interpreted as providing the common basis for the motor representations implemented within the motor system. The present brain imaging study compared activation overlap and differential activation during mental simulation (motor imagery) with that while observing gymnastic movements. The fMRI conjunction analysis revealed overlapping activation for both S-states in primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, and the supplementary motor area as well as in the intraparietal sulcus, cerebellar hemispheres, and parts of the basal ganglia. A direct contrast between the motor imagery and observation conditions revealed stronger activation for imagery in the posterior insula and the anterior cingulate gyrus. The hippocampus, the superior parietal lobe, and the cerebellar areas were differentially activated in the observation condition. In general, these data corroborate the concept of action-related S-states because of the high overlap in core motor as well as in motor-related areas. We argue that differential activity between S-states relates to task-specific and modal information processing.

Many neurophysiological studies give evidence for a matching system between action observation and imitation. We used functional MRI to investigate the effects of different instructions for observing identical stimuli of whole-body gymnastics movements. The imitative-like observation mode asked normal human participants to observe the sequence containing repetitive parts and to subsequently imagine the observed movements in the first-person perspective. The evaluative observation mode asked the participants to carefully observe and judge movement accuracy and consistency in the repetitive sequence. We hypothesized that the supplementary motor area would be specifically involved in performing the observational tasks. Results indicate that the SMA proper is generally activated during observation of whole-body gymnastic movements and shows pronounced activation in imitative-like observation mode. Pre-SMA activity can be differentially modulated by instructions related to the observation task.