Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to examine the cortical correlates of imagery depending on instructional modality (guided vs. self-produced) using various sports-related scripts. According to the expert-performance approach, we took an idiosyncratic perspective analyzing the mental imagery of an experienced two-time Olympic athlete to verify whether different instructional modalities of imagery (i.e., guided vs. self-produced) and different scripts (e.g., training or competition environment) could differently involve brain activity. The subject listened to each previously recorded script taken from two existing questionnaires concerning imagery ability in sport and then was asked to imagine the scene for a minute. During the task, brain waves were monitored using EEG (32-channel g. Nautilus). Our findings indicate that guided imagery might induce higher high alpha and SMR (usually associated with selective attention), whereas self-produced imagery might facilitate higher low alpha (associated with global resting state and relaxation). Results are discussed in light of the neural efficiency hypothesis as a marker of optimal performance and transient hypofrontality as a marker of flow state. Practical mental training recommendations are presented.
Highlights
Imagery is a multisensorial mental representation of the image of actions, without an actual experience and without appropriate sensory input (White and Hardy, 1998; Kosslyn, 2005)
The head maps of low alpha, high alpha, and SMR during the two imagery instructional modalities and the six scripts are displayed in Figure 1, reporting the difference between the two conditions
A Wilcoxon-signed-ranks-test indicated that SMR in guided imagery was significantly higher than in self-produced imagery in both hemispheres and all regions
Summary
Imagery is a multisensorial mental representation of the image of actions (or objects and situations), without an actual experience and without appropriate sensory input (White and Hardy, 1998; Kosslyn, 2005). During competition athletes can experience various mental states, even when performing optimally, in different conditions and with a different level of cognitive control (Bortoli et al, 2012; Robazza et al, 2016; Ruiz et al, 2020). These multistates were associated with the underpinning cortical activity (Bertollo et al, 2016; di Fronso et al, 2016). In shooting it is likely related to a ‘‘default mode network’’ functioning, proper autonomous skills, and goal-relevant attentional focus when approaching shot release
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