Action Imagery Research Articles

The Empowering Effect of Embodied Awareness Practice on Body Structural Map and Sensorimotor Activity: The Case of Feldenkrais Method.

While outcomes of embodied awareness practices in terms of improved posture and flexibility, movement efficiency, and well-being are often reported, systematic investigations of such training effects and of the actual nature, extent, and neurofunctional correlates of learning mechanisms thought to lie at the core of such practices are very limited. The present study focused on the Feldenkrais method (FM), one of the most established embodied awareness practices, and aimed at investigating the neurofunctional outcomes of the somatic learning process at the core of the method by testing the modulations induced by a standardized FM protocol on the complexity of practicers’ body structural map and on the activity of their sensorimotor network during different movement-related tasks (i.e., gestures observation, execution, and imagery). Twenty-five participants were randomly divided into an experimental group—which completed a 28-session FM protocol based on guided group practice—and a control group, and underwent pre-/post-training psychometric and electrophysiological assessment. Data analysis highlighted, at the end of the FM protocol, a significant increase of EEG markers of cortical activation (task-related mu desynchronization) in precentral regions during action observation and in central regions during action execution and imagery. Also, posterior regions of the sensorimotor network showed systematic activation during all the action-related tasks.

The impact of action observation and motor imagery on the aesthetic preference of Chinese calligraphy.

The creation of artwork requires motor activity. However, few empirical studies have directly explored the relationship between the experience of an artist's action and aesthetic experience. This study aimed to examine the effect of observing and imagery of the artist's action on the participants' aesthetic preferences. In Experiment 1 and 2, we took hard-pen and brush-pen Chinese calligraphy images as the stimulus, respectively, to explore the influence of action observation on the aesthetic preference by manipulating the artists' actions. The results of both Experiment 1 and 2 show that when participants observed the artists' actions, they tended to report a higher preference for calligraphy images compared with the control condition. In Experiments 3 and 4, we used instructions to manipulate the motor imagery tasks and investigated the effect of imaging the artist's action on the participants' aesthetic preferences. The results showed that both kinesthetic imagery and visual imagery increased the participants' preference. In general, our study shows that both action observation and motor imagery contribute to participants' aesthetic preferences. The results are discussed in terms of how artists' actions possibly influence the aesthetic preference of Chinese calligraphy.

Action Imagery and Observation in Neurorehabilitation for Parkinson's Disease (ACTION-PD): Development of a User-Informed Home Training Intervention to Improve Functional Hand Movements.

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) causes difficulties with hand movements, which few studies have addressed therapeutically. Training with action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) improves performance in healthy individuals, particularly when the techniques are applied simultaneously (AO + MI). Both AO and MI have shown promising effects in people with PD, but previous studies have only used these separately. Objective This article describes the development and pilot testing of an intervention combining AO + MI and physical practice to improve functional manual actions in people with PD. Methods The home-based intervention, delivered using a tablet computer app, was iteratively designed by an interdisciplinary team, including people with PD, and further developed through focus groups and initial field testing. Preliminary data on feasibility were obtained via a six-week pilot randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN 11184024) of 10 participants with mild to moderate PD (6 intervention; 4 treatment as usual). Usage and adherence data were recorded during training, and semistructured interviews were conducted with participants. Exploratory outcome measures included dexterity and timed action performance. Results Usage and qualitative data provided preliminary evidence of acceptability and usability. Exploratory outcomes also suggested that subjective and objective performance of manual actions should be tested in a larger trial. The importance of personalisation, choice, and motivation was highlighted, as well as the need to facilitate engagement in motor imagery. Conclusions The results indicate that a larger RCT is warranted, and the findings also have broader relevance for the feasibility and development of AO + MI interventions for PD and other conditions.

Crosstalk disrupts the production of motor imagery brain signals in brain-computer interfaces.

The online version of this article contains supplementary material available (10.1007/s13755-021-00142-y).

Lev Venediktov's Choir Theater and His Traditions, Creative Method, Synthesis

The aspects of the creative activity of the outstanding opera choirmaster Lev Venediktov, an epoch-making figure in the Ukrainian choral art of the second half of the 20th — the beginning of the 21st century, are considered. The influence of family succession, the achievements of professional communication with outstanding contemporary musicians, the traditions of opera and choral performance at the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Ukraine on the formation of Master’s creative personality are highlighted. The importance of his creative and musical-pedagogical activity in the formation of a high artistic standard of choral performance, enlightenment promotion of the best performing traditions, professional education of several generations of Ukrainian choral conductors are emphasized. The importance of the choirmaster's work in creating original highly artistic performing interpretations of operas is noted. The features of the individual performance style of L. Venediktov's choir, which was an important component of the opera, highlighting the synthesis of music, words and dramatic action imagery, are highlighted. Such moments of the choirmaster's work as the complete set of the choral composition, work on the acoustic characteristics of the sound, ensemble, synthesis of musical-verbal intonation, dynamics, timbre, strokes are analyzed. An attempt is made to generalize the features of individual performance style and methods of work of the choirmaster, highlighting the mechanisms of formation of opera synthesis in them. L. Venediktov's cooperation with the conductor and director of the play, aimed at revealing the interpretive possibilities of choral performance as a component of opera synthesis, is observed. It is noted that due to the performing qualities, the choir under the direction of L. Venediktov was recognized as a unique phenomenon, engraved as a characteristic feature of Ukrainian opera, in particular, in the projection of Ukrainian-European intercultural dialogue. It is confirmed that the creative method of the choirmaster is unique in combining the best traditions of the national choral school with the principles of opera performance, demonstrates the unity of general-objective and subjective-individual in creating performing interpretations of operas

Decoding motor imagery and action planning in the early visual cortex: Overlapping but distinct neural mechanisms

Recent evidence points to a role of the primary visual cortex that goes beyond visual processing into high-level cognitive and motor-related functions, including action planning, even in absence of feedforward visual information. It has been proposed that, at the neural level, motor imagery is a simulation based on motor representations, and neuroimaging studies have shown overlapping and shared activity patterns for motor imagery and action execution in frontal and parietal cortices. Yet, the role of the early visual cortex in motor imagery remains unclear. Here we used multivoxel pattern analyses on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to examine whether the content of motor imagery and action intention can be reliably decoded from the activity patterns in the retinotopic location of the target object in the early visual cortex. Further, we investigated whether the discrimination between specific actions generalizes across imagined and intended movements. Eighteen right-handed human participants (11 females) imagined or performed delayed hand actions towards a centrally located object composed of a small shape attached on a large shape. Actions consisted of grasping the large or small shape, and reaching to the center of the object. We found that despite comparable fMRI signal amplitude for different planned and imagined movements, activity patterns in the early visual cortex, as well as dorsal premotor and anterior intraparietal cortex, accurately represented action plans and action imagery. However, movement content is similar irrespective of whether actions are actively planned or covertly imagined in parietal but not early visual or premotor cortex, suggesting a generalized motor representation only in regions that are highly specialized in object directed grasping actions and movement goals. In sum, action planning and imagery have overlapping but non identical neural mechanisms in the cortical action network.

A gastronomic anti-seminar: Marco Ferreri’s La grande abbuffata and the philosophy of food

ABSTRACTThe article blends the philosophy of food with the study of food films, suggesting an interpretation of Marco Ferreri’s La grande abbuffata (1973). The movie is read through the lens of the conceptualizations of food advanced, respectively, by Plato, the Cynics, Epicurus and Lucretius, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Arthur Schopenhauer. Each thinker defined the symbolical and practical relevance of food in human existence while indicating a path toward balance, self-awareness, and wisdom, also in reference to sexuality, mortality, and art that are widely dealt with in Ferreri’s movie. I contend that the film’s action, dialogue and visual imagery represent a systematic transgression and subversion of such philosophical teachings. I further argue that this interpretation, while being more fine-grained, integrates rather than replacing the commonplace reading of La grande abbuffata as a social allegory.

The Effect of Expertise on Kinesthetic Motor Imagery of Complex Actions.

The ability to mentally simulate an action by recalling the body sensations relative to the real execution is referred to as kinesthetic motor imagery (MI). Frontal and parietal motor-related brain regions are generally engaged during MI. The present study aimed to investigate the time course and neural correlates of complex action imagery and possible effects of expertise on the underlying action representation processes. Professional ballet dancers and controls were presented with effortful and effortless ballet steps and instructed to mentally reproduce each movement during EEG recording. Time-locked MI was associated with an Anterior Negativity (AN) component (400-550ms) that was larger in dancers relative to controls. The AN was differentially modulated by the motor content (effort) as a function of ballet expertise. It was more negative in response to effortful (than effortless) movements in control participants only. This effect also had a frontal distribution in controls and a centro-parietal distribution in dancers, as shown by the topographic maps of the scalp voltage. The source reconstruction (swLORETA) of the recorded potentials in the AN time-window showed enhanced engagement of prefrontal regions in controls (BA 10/47) relative to dancers, and occipitotemporal (BA 20) and bilateral sensorimotor areas in dancers (BA6/40) compared with controls. This evidence seems to suggest that kinesthetic MI of complex action relied on visuomotor simulation processes in participants with acquired dance expertise. Simultaneously, increased cognitive demands occurred in participants lacking in motor knowledge with the specific action. Hence, professional dance training may lead to refined action representation processes.

КЛАССИЧЕСКИЕ РАБОТЫ И НОВЫЕ ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ ОБРАЗОВ ДЕЙСТВИЯ И СИТУАЦИИ В ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ

КЛАССИЧЕСКИЕ РАБОТЫ И НОВЫЕ ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ ОБРАЗОВ ДЕЙСТВИЯ И СИТУАЦИИ В ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ

Corticospinal Modulations during Motor Imagery of Concentric, Eccentric, and Isometric Actions.

It is not known yet whether the neurophysiological specificity of eccentric, concentric, and isometric contractions can also be observed when these are mentally simulated. Therefore, our aim was to assess corticospinal excitability during motor imagery (MI) of different contraction types and to test whether a passive movement during MI could have additional effects. Twelve young participants imagined contractions of the wrist flexors, firstly with the arm motionless (static mode) and second, with a congruent passive movement (wrist extension during eccentric MI and wrist flexion during concentric MI). Motor-evoked potentials (MEP) and H-reflexes were elicited in flexor carpi radialis (FCR) at rest and during the three types of MI. As a secondary outcome, the MEP of one antagonist (extensor carpi radialis), elicited concomitantly with FCR MEP recording, were also analyzed. In static mode, FCR MEP were facilitated during isometric (P = 0.046) and concentric (P = 0.039) MI, but not during eccentric MI (P = 0.902). With passive congruent movements, FCR MEP were enhanced during all imagined contraction types, including eccentric (P = 0.047). FCR H-reflexes increased only during eccentric MI accompanied with wrist extension (P = 0.003). Extensor carpi radialis MEP were modulated only when a passive congruent movement was provided (P = 0.040). Like actual contractions, eccentric MI exhibits specific neural correlates, compared with isometric and concentric MI, which should be considered when using this modality for training. The present results showed that adding passive movements congruent to the eccentric MI task would enhance its impact over corticospinal structures.

Multi optimized SVM classifiers for motor imagery left and right hand movement identification.

EEG signal can be a good alternative for disabled persons who cannot perform actions or perform them improperly. Brain computer interface (BCI) is an attractive technology which permits control and interaction with a computer or a machine using EEG signals. Brain task identification based on EEG signals is very difficult task and is still challenging researchers. In this paper, the motor imagery of left and right hand actions are identified using new features which are fed to a set of optimized SVM classifiers. Multi classifiers based classification showed having high faculty to improve the classification accuracy when using different kind or diversified features. Features selection was performed by genetic algorithm optimization. In single optimized SVM classifier, a mean classification accuracy of 89.8% was reached. To further improve the rate of classification, three SVMs classifiers have been suggested and optimized in order to find suitable features for each classifier. The three SVMs classifiers were optimized and achieved a performance mean of 94.11%. The achieved performance is a significant improvement comparing to the existing methods which does not exceed 81% while using the same database. Here, combining multi classifiers with selecting suitable features by optimization can be a good alternative for BCI applications.

Motor Imagery of Speech: The Involvement of Primary Motor Cortex in Manual and Articulatory Motor Imagery

Motor imagery refers to the phenomenon of imagining performing an action without action execution. Motor imagery and motor execution are assumed to share a similar underlying neural system that involves primary motor cortex (M1). Previous studies have focused on motor imagery of manual actions, but articulatory motor imagery has not been investigated. In this study, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to elicit motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from the articulatory muscles [orbicularis oris (OO)] as well as from hand muscles [first dorsal interosseous (FDI)]. Twenty participants were asked to execute or imagine performing a simple squeezing task involving a pair of tweezers, which was comparable across both effectors. MEPs were elicited at six time points (50, 150, 250, 350, 450, 550 ms post-stimulus) to track the time course of M1 involvement in both lip and hand tasks. The results showed increased MEP amplitudes for action execution compared to rest for both effectors at time points 350, 450 and 550 ms, but we found no evidence of increased cortical activation for motor imagery. The results indicate that motor imagery does not involve M1 for simple tasks for manual or articulatory muscles. The results have implications for models of mental imagery of simple articulatory gestures, in that no evidence is found for somatotopic activation of lip muscles in sub-phonemic contexts during motor imagery of such tasks, suggesting that motor simulation of relatively simple actions does not involve M1.

Incorporating Ultrasonography into the Health Science Classroom

Ultrasonography provides visualization of organ form and function in situ, this technology until recently required large, cumbersome high priced units that were impractical for undergraduate health science teaching. Highly portable ultrasound systems have been developed which allow for convenient handing and versatile application in physiology course demonstrations. In addition to visualization of body fluids and organ morphology, students are able to visualize in vivo active processes like intestinal peristalsis, blood flow and cardiac function. Ultrasound live action imagery of cardiac contractions and valve activity is particularly useful when demonstrating these dynamic processes. Physiology and pre‐health students with interest in medical and veterinary career paths are especially engaged, and enthusiastic about this technology. The clinical use of ultrasonography has increased in recent years, this offers additional incentive for health science students to familiarize themselves with the technology, its applications and the interpretation of ultrasound images. Incorporating ultrasonography into the anatomy and physiology classroom therefore provides not only an additional medium with which to demonstrate physiologic principals, it provides an opportunity for students to gain practical exposure to a medically relevant diagnostic modality.Support or Funding InformationCal Poly Pomona Institutional Grant: Special Projects for Intellectual Community Environment (SPICE) Grant: Innovative approaches to Instruction Program.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

A Novel Biomarker of Compensatory Recruitment of Face Emotional Imagery Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Imagery of facial expressions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is likely impaired but has been very difficult to capture at a neurophysiological level. We developed an approach that allowed to directly link observation of emotional expressions and imagery in ASD, and to derive biomarkers that are able to classify abnormal imagery in ASD. To provide a handle between perception and action imagery cycles it is important to use visual stimuli exploring the dynamical nature of emotion representation. We conducted a case-control study providing a link between both visualization and mental imagery of dynamic facial expressions and investigated source responses to pure face-expression contrasts. We were able to replicate the same highly group discriminative neural signatures during action observation (dynamical face expressions) and imagery, in the precuneus. Larger activation in regions involved in imagery for the ASD group suggests that this effect is compensatory. We conducted a machine learning procedure to automatically identify these group differences, based on the EEG activity during mental imagery of facial expressions. We compared two classifiers and achieved an accuracy of 81% using 15 features (both linear and non-linear) of the signal from theta, high-beta and gamma bands extracted from right-parietal locations (matching the precuneus region), further confirming the findings regarding standard statistical analysis. This robust classification of signals resulting from imagery of dynamical expressions in ASD is surprising because it far and significantly exceeds the good classification already achieved with observation of neutral face expressions (74%). This novel neural correlate of emotional imagery in autism could potentially serve as a clinical interventional target for studies designed to improve facial expression recognition, or at least as an intervention biomarker.

Home-Based Training to Increase Functional Independence in Parkinson’s Through Action Observation and Imagery

Home-Based Training to Increase Functional Independence in Parkinson’s Through Action Observation and Imagery

Team Action Imagery and Team Cognition: Imagery of Game Situations and Required Team Actions Promotes a Functional Structure in Players' Representations of Team-Level Tactics.

A team's cognitions of interpersonally coordinated actions are a crucial component for successful team performance. Here, we present an approach to practice team action by way of imagery and examine its impact on team cognitions in long-term memory. We investigated the impact of a 4-week team action imagery intervention on futsal players' mental representations of team-level tactics. Skilled futsal players were assigned to either an imagery training group or a no imagery training control group. Participants in the imagery training group practiced four team-level tactics by imagining team actions in specific game situations for three times a week. Results revealed that the imagery training group's representations were more similar to that of an expert representation after the intervention compared with the control group. This study indicates that team action imagery training can have a significant impact on players' tactical skill representations and thus order formation in long-term memory.

Images of Play Experiences Through a Child’s Lens: An Exploration of Play and Digital Media with Young Children

This research documents the use of digital media by young children in outdoor play spaces. The research was conducted at a child care center on an urban university campus in the southeastern USA. The research employed a participatory design and used a qualitative, reflexive approach to include the child’s voice, ideas, and understandings of their play through the use of child-created, digital images. Four forms of digital imagery were evident: performance imagery in which an image or scene was orchestrated; live action imagery in which a playful experience was created so that the photographer or videographer would appear on film; documentary imagery in which the camera became a tool to capture or describe an everyday image or event; and mobile image audiencing in which the original photographer or videographer was unintentionally captured in the digital record or intentionally recorded by other children as the original artist paused to review, edit, or display their work to others. Children displayed a sophisticated understanding of how they could construct or co-construct knowledge, culture, and identity through the use of digital media. This research provides insight into children’s spontaneous play and their roles as creators and consumers of digital media and imagery.

МУЗИКА ЯК ВАЖЛИВИЙ ЕЛЕМЕНТ РОЗКРИТТЯ ОБРАЗНОЇ СФЕРИ СЦЕНІЧНОЇ СЛОВЕСНОЇ ДІЇ

The purpose of the article is to determine the role of music in a dramatic story as a means of artistic imagery and implementation of stage action, as a means of artistic creation of imaginative sphere of verbal action, to follow the principles of creative vision and imaginative use of music as a component of verbal forms of dramatic works, including poetry, prose, plays and to consider the creative approach to the analysis of an art work as formation and development of stage drama. Research methodology consists in the application of analytical, functional, comparative, art, cultural, systematic, axiomatic methods of research of a specific role of music in the context of verbal dramatic action as a means of creative work on the material - prose, poetry and plays and figurative meaning of music in the context of the dramatic material as an important author’s dominant of the reading of the text and, eventually, the creation of a scenic art image. Scientific innovation lies in the theoretical substantiation of the role of music as a meaningful image-element of literary foundation of stage work and its place in the development of artistic and verbal areas, which is directly linked to the individual style of an artist, his aesthetic and ideological position as a performer and creative relationships with the works of other authors. Conclusions. As the result of the research, we can conclude: first, since the appearance of theater music adds concentrated features to the actors, and stage situation as a whole: in ancient tragedy, the verbal performance had a musical reference point, which was the chorus. Antique choir commented the ongoing events, became a tool for escalating the conflict and foresaw the course of further events. Verse classic verbal form ensured the integrity of the images. Secondly, the poem as a song or work close to the song is of musical nature, where rhyme and rhythm are the essence of its music, and a part of its shape, which helps to identify the semantic and figurative sense. Romances, rhymes, laments, hymns and songs of different genres come from poetry. By its figurative words, it conveys fresh feeling, deep experience and high passion. Finally, tones and intonation of music and words are the main ideological and emotional tool for creation of imaginative sphere of verbal action. A creative approach to the analysis of an art work is an important part of its formation and development. Understanding of the internal laws of stage drama not only detects and enhances the possibilities of stage solutions, but also gives them a diversity and richness of content.

Cooperation in mind: Motor imagery of joint and single actions is represented in different brain areas

In this study brain activity during motor imagery (MI) of joint actions, compared to single actions and rest conditions, was investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first neuroimaging study which directly investigated the neural correlates of joint action motor imagery. Twenty-one healthy participants imagined three different motor tasks (dancing, carrying a box, wiping). Each imagery task was performed at two kinds: alone (single action MI) or with a partner (joint action MI). We hypothesized that to imagine a cooperative task would lead to a stronger cortical activation in motor related areas due to a higher vividness and intensification of the imagery. This would be elicited by the integration of the action simulation of the virtual partner to one’s own action. Comparing the joint action and the single action condition with the rest condition, we found significant activation in the precentral gyrus and precuneus respectively. Furthermore the joint action MI showed higher activation patterns in the premotor cortex (inferior and middle frontal gyrus) compared to the single action MI. The imagery of a more vivid and engaging task, like our joint action imagery, could improve rehabilitation processes since a more distributed brain activity is found. Furthermore, the joint action imagery compared to single action imagery might be an appropriate BCI task due to its clear spatial distinction of activation.

Imagined and Executed Actions in the Human Motor System: Testing Neural Similarity Between Execution and Imagery of Actions with a Multivariate Approach.

Simulation theory proposes motor imagery (MI) to be a simulation based on representations also used for motor execution (ME). Nonetheless, it is unclear how far they use the same neural code. We use multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) and representational similarity analysis (RSA) to describe the neural representations associated with MI and ME within the frontoparietal motor network. During functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning, 20 volunteers imagined or executed 3 different types of right-hand actions. Results of MVPA showed that these actions as well as their modality (MI or ME) could be decoded significantly above chance from the spatial patterns of BOLD signals in premotor and posterior parietal cortices. This was also true for cross-modal decoding. Furthermore,representational dissimilarity matrices of frontal and parietal areas showed that MI and ME representations formed separate clusters, but that the representational organization of action types within these clusters was identical. For most ROIs, this pattern of results best fits with a model that assumes a low-to-moderate degree of similarity between the neural patterns associated with MI and ME. Thus, neural representations of MI and ME are neither the same nor totally distinct but exhibit a similar structural geometry with respect to different types of action.