Search results for "Mental practice"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Neurophysiological insights on flexibility improvements through motor imagery
2017
International audience; The efficacy of motor imagery (MI) practice to facilitate muscle stretching remains controversial and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms unexplored. We evaluated the effects of MI practice during a sit-and reach task. Healthy participants were randomly assigned to a MI practice (n = 15) or Control (n = 15) group and completed 2 blocks of 5 sit-and-reach trials. During the first block (B1), participants performed 5 maximal stretching trials of 10s. During the second block (B2), trials were divided into two consecutive parts: i) reproducing the maximum performance of B1 (10s, B2 part 1), and ii) attempting to outperform the maximum performance of B1 (10s, B2 …
Circadian Modulation of Mentally Simulated Motor Actions: Implications for the Potential Use of Motor Imagery in Rehabilitation
2008
Background. Mental practice through motor imagery improves subsequent motor performance and thus mental training is considered to be a potential tool in neuromotor rehabilitation. Objective. The authors investigated whether a circadian fluctuation of the motor imagery process occurs, which could be relevant in scheduling mental training in rehabilitation programs. Methods. The executed and imagined durations of walking and writing movements were recorded every 3 hours from 8 AM to 11 PM in healthy participants. The authors made a cosinor analysis on the temporal features of these movements to detect circadian rhythms. Temporal differences between executed and imagined movements as well as …
Motor learning without doing: trial-by-trial improvement in motor performance during mental training.
2010
Although there is converging experimental and clinical evidences suggesting that mental training with motor imagery can improve motor performance, it is unclear how humans can learn movements through mental training despite the lack of sensory feedback from the body and the environment. In a first experiment, we measured the trial-by-trial decrease in durations of executed movements (physical training group) and mentally simulated movements (motor-imagery training group), by means of training on a multiple-target arm-pointing task requiring high accuracy and speed. Movement durations were significantly lower in posttest compared with pretest after both physical and motor-imagery training. …
Adoption of practices of environmental sustainability in viticulture: first suggestions from Canton of Ticino
2018
The paper investigates the practices of environmental sustainability implemented in viticulture to minimize the negative impact of agricultural operations on the environment. Through the use of an electronic questionnaire, developed on a theoretical approach based on the Stakeholders Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and sent to a sample of wineries of the Canton of Ticino, the research pursues a triple aim: (i) to understand which are the main practices and initiatives of environmental sustainability adopted at firm level; (ii) to identify the main stakeholders that affect the choices of managers and owners to orient the firms towards the adoption of practices aimed at greater en…
Action Representation in Patients with Bilateral Vestibular Impairments
2011
During mental actions subjects feel themselves performing a movement without any corresponding motor output. Although broad information is available regarding the influence of central lesions on action representation, little is known about how peripheral damages affect mental events. In the current study, we investigated whether lack of vestibular information influences action representation. Twelve healthy adults and twelve patients with bilateral vestibular damage actually performed and mentally simulated walking and drawing. The locomotor paths implied one (first walking task) and four (second walking task) changes in the walking direction. In the drawing task, participants drew on a she…
Adoption of Green Environmental Practices in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Entrepreneur and Business Policies Patterns in Romania
2021
Current research shows that SMEs’ social and environmental actions are fragmented and informal, and few have formal policies and intentions. At the same time, many SMEs are engaged with environmental policies, often not knowing it. Concurrently, there is a gap between the pro-environmental attitudes of the SMEs managers, who are often seen as the main drivers for the firm’s behavior, and the policies implemented in reality in their firms. To this end, our research’s objective is to explore pro-environmental behavior, both at the individual and firm level, to identify connections between these levels and measures but also with firm’s and managers’ demographics, based on a study of Romanian S…
Motor imagery
2015
International audience; Before participating in a space mission, astronauts undergo parabolic-flight and underwater training to facilitate their subsequent adaptation to weightlessness. Unfortunately, similar training methods can't be used to prepare re adaptation to planetary gravity. Here, we propose a quick, simple and inexpensive approach that could be used to prepare astronauts both for the absence and for the renewed presence of gravity. This approach is based on motor imagery (MI), a process in which actions are produced in working memory without any overt output. Training protocols based on MI have repeatedly been shown to modify brain circuitry and to improve motor performance in h…
Mental practice in music memorization - an ecological-empirical study
2009
Mental Practice (MP) refers to a complex network of strategies for improving musical performance without physically performing at the instrument. The present study represents an attempt to describe cross-individual differences in the use of different MP strategies, allowing direct predictions on which strategies are more likely to be effective. Sixteen pianists were studied while memorizing piano pieces. Each subject memorized two pieces of comparable length and difficulty, one by MP and the other by Physical Practice (PP), on two different days according to standardized protocols. During MP subjects were free to apply any practice strategies they preferred except for physically playing a r…
Silent Reading and Aural Models in Pianists’ Mental Practice
2016
This study addresses musicians’ learning outcomes and subjective experiences in two common types of mental practice: silent score reading and score reading while listening to the music. The study incorporates expert ratings of performances before and after mental practice, questionnaire data concerning modal preferences, as well as semi-structured interviews. The results revealed individual differences in learning outcomes, attitudes toward the two types of mental practice, and the use of imagery. The participants’ attitudes and strategies were variously affected by their ability to audiate newly encountered music, their possible preference for learning by ear, and their need to process the…
EEG Brain Activity in Dynamic Health Qigong Training: Same Effects for Mental Practice and Physical Training?
2017
In recent years, there has been significant uptake of meditation and related relaxation techniques, as a means of alleviating stress and fostering an attentive mind. Several electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have reported changes in spectral band frequencies during Qigong meditation indicating a relaxed state. Much less is reported on effects of brain activation patterns induced by Qigong techniques involving bodily movement. In this study we tested whether (1) physical Qigong training alters EEG theta and alpha activation, and (2) mental practice induces the same effect as a physical Qigong training. Subjects performed the dynamic Health Qigong technique Wu Qin Xi (five animals) physicall…