Abstract
Background: Motor imagery (MI) involves visualizing a task rather than physically executing it, and its effectiveness may depend on duration. The optimal dose of MI for enhancing motor performance has not yet been determined.
Objectives: To compare the effects of different MI doses and physical practices on motor performance enhancement.
Methods: A pilot study was conducted with 27 healthy participants of both sexes aged 18-35 from Concordia University Wisconsin. The participants were divided into three groups: a control group with no MI, a low-dose MI group (6 minutes of MI practice per session), and a high-dose MI group (12 minutes of MI practice per session). Over three weeks, the participants completed nine sessions of a timed mirror tracing task, and their performance was measured by completion time and error count.
Results: The study involved 23 participants, with 8 in the control group, 9 in the low-dose group, and 6 in the high-dose group. Initial assessments revealed no significant differences in age or baseline performance among the groups. The control group experienced a notable decrease in task completion time in sessions three and six compared to the first session. The low-dose MI group demonstrated substantial improvement in all sessions, with noticeable differences observed between sessions two and three, as well as between sessions three and four. Conversely, the high-dose MI group did not show any significant improvement. There were no significant differences in performance between the groups across sessions.
Conclusion: Both MI and physical practice were found to enhance motor performance in novice tasks, with low-dose MI proving to be more effective than no MI. Interestingly, high-dose MI did not consistently lead to better performance. These findings highlight the importance of conducting additional research to determine the optimal MI dosage for different tasks and populations.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06299345. Retrospectively registered on March 2024.