Effectiveness of Mental Practice on Balance in Normal Young Adults

Abstract

Context: Mental practice (MP) is a method in which, mental imagery is used to train the performance of a task without performing any visible physical practice. The effects of the MP are dependent on factors such as the characteristics of the learner and the task, practice settings, the learning phase, and form of MP. Balance is defined as the condition of an object when the resultant load actions (forces or movement) acting upon it are zero. Good balance is important for many activities. Exercises that improve balance can help prevent falls. There are limited studies which focus on the effect of MP on balance using clinical tests for balance assessment. Hence, the aim of the study is to find the effectiveness of MP on balance using the clinical test on normal younger adults. Aim: To compare the effects of MP and balance training on Unipedal Stand Test, 1 Repetition Maximum and modified Clinical test for sensory interaction on balance in younger adults. Materials and Methods: 60 subjects who followed inclusion criteria were taken and divided into experimental and control groups (n = 30) respectively. The experimental group was given MP and balance training whereas the control group received only balance training for 4 weeks. Outcome measures were assessed before and after the intervention. Statistical Analysis Used: Intergroup analysis was done by MannWhitney U-test and within group analysis were done by Wilcoxon rank test for all outcome measures with pre, post data. The results showed significant improvement in balance, ankle muscular strength, and sensory organization in the experimental group. Conclusion: This study shows that MP in combination with the balance training leads to improvement in balance in normal younger adults.