Imagination Conditions Research Articles

EEG sensorimotor rhythms dynamics in children with cerebral palsy during the course of neurorehabilitation, depending in the success of their imagination of movements

An analysis of changes in sensorimotor rhythms of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and features of the restoration of motor functions during a course of neurorehabilitation using a non-invasive brain-computer-hand exoskeleton interface was carried out in 50 children aged 7–15 years of both sexes suffering from cerebral palsy (CP). EEG was recorded in 32 leads under conditions of rest and kinesthetic imagination of hand extension movements. Depending on the success of the classifier program in determining imaginary states based on the EEG pattern, the children were divided into two groups – with high and low success when imagining movements. In children of the studied groups, when undergoing a course of neurorehabilitation, differences were revealed in the nature of changes in EEG amplitude in the sensorimotor mu (8–13 Hz) and beta (15–25 Hz) rhythms frequency ranges. When imagining movements of the right hand, intergroup differences for the mu rhythm reached the level of statistical significance in the medial electrodes of the fronto-central and parietal areas of the neocortex, for the beta rhythm – in the medial lead of the parietal region. Children in the group with high success showed a decrease or slight increase in the amplitude of the mu- and beta rhythm in these brain areas at the last session of the course compared to the first. We hypothesize that children in this group are not only better able to kinesthetically imagine movements throughout the course of neurorehabilitation, but also, based on feedback signals, learn to effectively adjust their strategies for movement imagination. Children in the group with low success showed an increase in the amplitude of sensorimotor rhythms in these brain areas, indicating the development of inhibition in the frontoparietal motor network. Patients, whose conditions were determined more accurately by the classifier, achieved higher rates of motor rehabilitation. The results of the study are important for clarifying the brain mechanisms of motor functions restoration in patients with cerebral palsy under the influence of a course of neurorehabilitation.

An expertise reversal effect of imagination in learning from basketball tactics.

The imagination effect occurs when participants learn better from imagining procedures or concepts rather than from studying them. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of imagination and level of expertise on memorization of a tactical basketball system. Thirty-six expert and thirty-six novice learners were asked to imagine the functioning of a tactical scene in basketball (imagination condition) or simply study the scene (study condition). Results showed that novice learners benefited more from the study condition as they achieved better recall and recognition performances, invested less cognitive load (i.e., mental effort and perceived difficulty) and had higher levels of motivational aspects (i.e., self-efficacy and perceived competence). However, this effect was totally reversed for expert learners who, benefited more from the imagination condition, indicating therefore an expertise reversal effect. The results suggest that the effectiveness of the imagination technique depends on level of expertise of the learners.

Improving motor imagery through a mirror box for BCI users.

The aim of this study was to evaluate mirror visual feedback (MVF) as a training tool for brain-computer interface (BCI) users. This is because approximately 20-30% of subjects require more training to operate a BCI system using motor imagery. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded from 18 healthy subjects, using event-related desynchronization (ERD) to observe the responses during the movement or movement intention of the hand for the conditions of control, imagination, and the MVF with the mirror box. We constituted two groups: group 1: control, imagination, and MVF; group 2: control, MVF, and imagination. There were significant differences in imagination conditions between groups using MVF before or after imagination (right-hand, P = 0.0403; left-hand, P = 0.00939). The illusion of movement through MVF is not possible in all subjects, but even in those cases, we found an increase in imagination when the subject used the MVF previously. The increase in the r2s of imagination in the right and left hands suggests cross-learning. The increase in motor imagery recorded with EEG after MVF suggests that the mirror box made it easier to imagine movements. Our results provide evidence that the MVF could be used as a training tool to improve motor imagery.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The increase in motor imagery recorded with EEG after MVF (mirror visual feedback) suggests that the mirror box made it easier to imagine movements. Our results demonstrate that MVF could be used as a training tool to improve motor imagery.

Improving Tactical Learning by Imagination: Effects of Expertise and Time of Testing

The imagination effect occurs when learners who imagine a procedure perform better on a subsequent test than learners who study it. The present study explored whether this effect is restricted to short-term learning or whether it also applies when learning is tested after a delay. Forty novices and forty experts learned about a basketball game system and were instructed to either listen and memorize (no-imagination condition) or imagine and memorize (imagination condition) the tactical instructions given orally. The results indicated that experts who imagined the material performed better in both immediate and delayed knowledge tests than experts who simply studied the same material, indicating a robust effect of the imagination in experts. However, the results showed that novices performed well in the immediate knowledge test under the no-imagination condition, but this effect was reversed in the delayed knowledge test, making imagination more beneficial. These findings indicate that the effectiveness of imagination over time depends on the level of expertise of the players.

Imagination Versus Telepresence: Consumer Patronage Intention Toward Peer-to-Peer Accommodations in Photo-Enhanced Imaginative Conditions and Virtual Reality Contexts

The use of information and communication technology, such as virtual reality (VR) and photo-enhanced imaginative condition (PIC), in the online previews of peer-to-peer accommodations at the pre-reservation stage has become a common phenomenon. However, previous research has not systematically compared the impact of these two preview modes on accommodation reservations or the psychological mechanism and moderators of the impact. We combined duality theories and the technology-enabled engagement process model to establish that a VR/PIC preview enhances consumers’ appraisal and their intention to patronize P2P accommodations through cognitive and affective engagement. Furthermore, the VR/PIC preview’s effect on patronage intention was found to be influenced by the motivation for consumer reservation: consumers form a positive appraisal when the target accommodation type (comfortable vs. economical) matches the preview mode (PIC vs. VR). Finally, the message appeal emphasis (informational vs. emotional) of advertising was found to moderate the effect of the VR/PIC preview.

Directions in Addressing the Language and Literacy Needs of Children Across the Bilingual Continuum

One of the most widespread and harmful myths in our society is that very young children will learn a second language automatically, quickly, and easily—with no special attention to their needs for an optimal learning environment. —Catherine Snow There are many myths or misconceptions about bilingual children. One myth that we have come across frequently is that bilingual children experience the phenomenon of language confusion, an imagined condition in which children cannot separate their first language (L1) from their second language (L2) (Espinosa, 2013; Guiberson, 2013). In such instances, educators may erroneously view code-switching, a normal bilingual behavior in which children draw upon both languages within a given utterance, as evidence for language confusion or a general deficit in the ability to separate languages. The myth of language confusion is frequently used to justify an English-only approach to educational programming and discussions with families about choosing a language. Unfortunately, this line of flawed reasoning is applied to both typically developing children and those with language disorders. Language confusion does occur when educators become confused about bilingual children and their development. Bilingual children can be perplexing because there is a tremendous amount of variability in bilingualism, with L1 and L2 proficiencies that are dynamic across time and settings. That is, bilingualism operates on a continuum and the quantity, quality, and context of L1 and L2 exposure and usage are major sources of variability and influence on a child's bilingual profile. In this issue of Topics of Language Disorders, we hope to advance the understanding of the bilingual continuum across ages and educational settings. We have assembled original research and clinical tutorials with the goal of highlighting the unique language and literacy needs of children with diverse proficiencies in L1 and L2. In two of the articles, vocabulary teaching and learning for bilingual children is the focus. Ehren, Rosa-Lugo, and Hagan present an adapted version of the promising Vocabulary Scenario Technique that taps into L1 strengths while teaching L2. Roseberry-Mckibbin presents a clinical tutorial on ways to differentiate academic vocabulary instruction for bilingual children with developmental language disorders. This article also presents the use of L1 as a cross-linguistic tool to teach L2 vocabulary, as well as several other innovations to enrich vocabulary instruction. Two of the articles focus on addressing both language and literacy development in bilingual children. Guiberson reviews extant research and presents a descriptive study of early literacy behaviors of Spanish-speaking caregivers of 2- and 3-year-old children. Findings from the review and the descriptive study are combined, and 26 early literacy and language strategies are described. Fiestas and colleagues describe a packaged literacy and language intervention for primary- grade bilingual children. Incidentally, this intervention also targets vocabulary and the use of L1 to support new L2 development through both oral and print activities. It also includes narrative comprehension and production instruction and goals. The final study describes the use of English learner case simulations with graduate students in speech–language pathology to practice a strategy used with bilingual children that considers their language proficiency. Findings from this work show general benefits in graduate students' overall engagement and preparedness to consider English learners and their specific needs. Although we recognize there is a need for more research, particularly treatment research with bilingual children, it is our hope that this issue of Topics in Language Disorders will demonstrate that meeting the language and literacy needs of bilingual learners requires careful consideration and specialized instruction. We also hope this issue provides educators and researchers direction in addressing the complex and varied language and literacy profiles of bilingual children across the bilingual continuum. —Mark Guiberson, PhD —Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, EdD Issue Co-Editors

The effects of imaginary eating on visual food cue reactivity: An event-related potential study

Previous research has demonstrated that imagining consumption of a specific type of food helps individuals to consume less of that food. The present event-related potential study aimed at investigating the underlying neural correlates of this appetite-reducing strategy. A total of 86 women (mean age = 23.65 years) were randomly assigned to one of three imagination conditions. In each condition, they listened to a guided imagery script that either described the eating of 30 colorful button-shaped chocolates (M&Ms), the sorting of 30 M&Ms by color, or the sorting of 30 marbles by color. Subsequently to the imagery task, the participants were presented with images of M&Ms and marbles while their electroencephalogram and craving ratings were recorded. The results showed that imaginary eating did not reduce the appetitive value of M&M pictures. The M&M sorting group reported enhanced craving and showed increased late positivity toward M&M pictures (300–600 ms after picture onset) compared to the two other groups. The present findings indicate that the imagined handling of food increases food cue reactivity and that imaginary eating is not a reliable method to reduce appetite.

Creative, internally-directed cognition is associated with reduced BOLD variability

In a range of externally-directed tasks, intra-individual variability of fMRI BOLD signal has been shown to be a stronger predictor of cognitive performance than mean BOLD signal. BOLD variability’s strong association with cognitive performance is hypothesised to be due to it capturing the dynamic range of neural systems. Although increased BOLD variability is also speculated to play a role in internally-directed thought, particularly when creative and flexible cognition is required, there is a relative lack of research exploring whether BOLD variability is related to internally-directed cognition. Thus, we investigated the relationship between BOLD variability and a key component of creativity – divergent thinking – in various tasks that required participants to think flexibly. We also determined whether any associations between BOLD variability and creativity overlapped with, or differed, from associations between mean BOLD signal and creativity. First, we performed task Partial Least Squares (PLS) analyses that compared BOLD signal (either mean or variability) during two future imagination conditions that differed in the amount of cognitive flexibility required: a Congruent condition in which autobiographical details (people, places, objects) comprising an imagined event belonged to the same social sphere (e.g., university) and an Incongruent condition in which details belonged to different social spheres and required greater cognitive flexibility to integrate. Results indicated that the Incongruent condition was associated with a widespread reduction in both BOLD variability and mean signal (relative to the Congruent condition), but in largely non-overlapping regions. Next, we used behavioral PLS to determine whether individual differences in performance on future simulation tasks as well as the Alternate Uses Task relates to BOLD variability and mean BOLD signal. Better performance on these tasks was predominantly associated with increases in mean BOLD signal and decreases in BOLD variability, in a range of disparate brain regions. Together, the results suggest that, unlike tasks requiring externally-directed cognition, superior performance on tasks requiring creative internal mentation is associated with less (not more) variability.

Imaginary agents exist perceptually for children but not for adults

Mental imagery refers to representations and the accompanying experience of sensory information in the absence of appropriate sensory input. Little is known about children’s social imagery, imagery about an agent. It is possible that children’s social imagery may qualitatively differ from that of adults by involving more perceptual characteristics. We conducted three experiments to investigate the perceptual existence of social imagery when induced by verbal cues. Experiment 1 was a precondition for Experiments 2 and 3, and we examined whether children’s and adults’ predictive eye movements were disrupted by the presence of a real person’s face. Preschool children (n = 20) and adults (n = 20) watched a video where a woman, with/without her face shown, placed balls into a bucket. Participants’ gazes were less predictive of the woman’s actions in ‘Face’ versus ‘No-Face’ videos, indirectly indicating the perceptual presence of agents. Next, we examined whether adults’ and children’s predictive eye movements were affected by imagining a person. In Experiment 2, adult participants were presented with a video where the balls moved automatically and were asked to either watch the video (Ball condition, n = 20) or imagine that an invisible person moved the balls (Imagination condition, n = 20). Adult gazes did not differ between conditions. However, in Experiment 3, preschool children’s gazes were less predictive when imagining an invisible person’s actions (Invisible condition, n = 20) than when not imagining anything (Ball condition, n = 20) or when imagining an object (Fan condition, n = 20). The results suggest that children experience realistic social imagery induced by verbal cues.

Look, a human being! Anthropomorphic solipsism in postsecular thought

Adding a woman’s voice to an edited volume, or a person of color on an academic panel, or an ecumenical, universalist message of welcome under a church flag—these may be well intentioned gestures of inclusion, but, even as an unintended result, minority discourses either stand on the margins, as the ‘other,’ or they morph and disappear into the dominant discourse. What is needed instead is a change of ‘being.’ Whatever we call the philosophy of religion, it owes its conception to the European Enlightenment, and the latter, its understanding of the modern subject to Christian imperialism and the colonial enterprise. How can it ever become an inclusive field? This paper reflects on the promise of inclusion of postsecular theological discourses within the Continental philosophy of religion. Can such discourses, coming on the heels of the death of God and the postmodern death of universals, overcome their patriarchal, colonial, and racist cultural archive? Such a possibility glimpses a future worth pursuing. To answer the question, this paper plays on the intersectionality of the human being as such—an imagined abstract condition of possibility of our existence—and human facticity, the embodied lived experience that is historically conditioned, culturally determined, gendered and racialized as we know it today—identities expressing or underwriting white privilege, the economic exploitation of the global south, or hegemonic Western institutions of knowledge and power. The paper analyzes key aspects of well-known postsecular theological discourses (Caputo, Vattimo, Taylor, Levinas) through the intersectional lens of feminist, race, postcolonial, and decolonial critiques (Schutte, Du Bois, Carter, Dussel, Mignolo). Error is human, but today’s sexism, racism, or economic oppression suggest it isn’t human errors we ought to correct so much as our erroneous understanding of what we call a human being. A materialist conception of being (Malabou) and a theology whose God is in and of language open the way to engage the complicity of the philosophy of religion with the dominant and hegemonic ideologies that underwrite, besides the field, today’s world order.

Bad Healthy State Compress Temporal Extension Both in Past and Future Orientations.

We examined how different health states and cancer-related depression influence time perception in temporal extension (TE) regarding the past and the future over individuals’ entire lives. We used the magnitude estimation method to investigate TE (past and future) and long duration (20 years), and directly measured patients with cancer and their subjective feelings about their lives. In Experiment 1, we investigated whether there were differences in perceptions of TE between patients with cancer (n = 144) compared to a healthy control group (n = 208). Results indicated that the patients with cancer group evaluated longer TE in healthy states (imagination condition) than in unhealthy states (objectivity condition), and the healthy control group evaluated longer TE in healthy states (objectivity condition) than in unhealthy states (imagination condition). Moreover, the patients with cancer group evaluated longer past-oriented TE than future-oriented TE, whereas the healthy control group evaluated longer future-oriented TE than past-oriented TE. Experiment 2 was conducted to further examine the unexplained findings of Experiment 1. Results indicated that because of the impact of depression on the cancer group, their embodied time system slowed down, and explicit behavior indicated an over-evaluation of time, resulting in group differences. In conclusion, TE could be affected by different health states. Moreover, healthy and unhealthy states may be more associated with future and past orientation, respectively. Lastly, individuals’ time perception can be influenced by depression.

Repetition; Reticulum;Remainder

This essay takes the diagrammatic formulations of trauma and networks that are both presented and critiqued in Tom McCarthy's 2005 novel Remainder as the occasion to sketch some elements of a methodology for critical analysis in the age of computational thinking. By locating a relationship between two particular figures—the loop and the network diagram—and by grounding this relationship in the material and imaginative conditions through which abstract diagrams come to shape social conditions, the essay addresses the epistemic logic that connects certain modes of cultural analysis to the digital logic of recent political economy.

A Reduction in Delay Discounting by Using Episodic Future Imagination and the Association with Episodic Memory Capacity

Delay discounting (DD) refers to the phenomenon that individuals discount future consequences. Previous studies showed that future imagination reduces DD, which was mediated by functional connectivity between medial prefrontal valuation areas and a key region for episodic memory (hippocampus). Future imagination involves an initial period of construction and a later period of elaboration, with the more elaborative latter period recruiting more cortical regions. This study examined whether elaborative future imagination modulated DD, and if so, what are the underlying neural substrates. It was assumed that cortical areas contribute to the modulation effect during the later period of imagination. Since future imagination is supported by episodic memory capacity, we additionally hypothesize that the neural network underlying the modulation effect is related to individual episodic memory capacity. Twenty-two subjects received an extensive interview on personal future events, followed by an fMRI DD experiment with and without the need to perform elaborative future imagination simultaneously. Subjects' episodic memory capacity was also assessed. Behavioral results replicate previous findings of a reduced discount rate in the DD plus imagination condition compared to the DD only condition. The behavioral effect positively correlated with: (i) subjective value signal changes in midline brain structures during the initial imagination period; and (ii) signal changes in left prefrontoparietal areas during the later imagination period. Generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analyses reveal positive correlations between the behavioral effect and functional connectivity among the following areas: right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left hippocampus; left inferior parietal cortex (IPC) and left hippocampus; and left IPC and bilateral occipital cortices. These changes in functional connectivity are also associated with episodic memory capacity. A hierarchical multiple regression indicates that the model with both the valuation related signal changes in the right ACC and the imagination related signal changes in the left IPC best predicts the reduction in DD. This study illustrates interactions between the left hippocampus and multiple cortical regions underlying the modulation effect of elaborative episodic future imagination, demonstrating, for the first time, empirical support for a relation to individual episodic memory capacity.

Medial Temporal Lobe Contributions to Episodic Future Thinking: Scene Construction or Future Projection?

Previous research has shown that the medial temporal lobes (MTL) are more strongly engaged when individuals think about the future than about the present, leading to the suggestion that future projection drives MTL engagement. However, future thinking tasks often involve scene processing, leaving open the alternative possibility that scene-construction demands, rather than future projection, are responsible for the MTL differences observed in prior work. This study explores this alternative account. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we directly contrasted MTL activity in 1) high scene-construction and low scene-construction imagination conditions matched in future thinking demands and 2) future-oriented and present-oriented imagination conditions matched in scene-construction demands. Consistent with the alternative account, the MTL was more active for the high versus low scene-construction condition. By contrast, MTL differences were not observed when comparing the future versus present conditions. Moreover, the magnitude of MTL activation was associated with the extent to which participants imagined a scene but was not associated with the extent to which participants thought about the future. These findings help disambiguate which component processes of imagination specifically involve the MTL.

An fMRI investigation of the relationship between future imagination and cognitive flexibility

While future imagination is largely considered to be a cognitive process grounded in default mode network activity, studies have shown that future imagination recruits regions in both default mode and frontoparietal control networks. In addition, it has recently been shown that the ability to imagine the future is associated with cognitive flexibility, and that tasks requiring cognitive flexibility result in increased coupling of the default mode network with frontoparietal control and salience networks. In the current study, we investigated the neural correlates underlying the association between cognitive flexibility and future imagination in two ways. First, we experimentally varied the degree of cognitive flexibility required during future imagination by manipulating the disparateness of episodic details contributing to imagined events. To this end, participants generated episodic details (persons, locations, objects) within three social spheres; during fMRI scanning they were presented with sets of three episodic details all taken from the same social sphere (Congruent condition) or different social spheres (Incongruent condition) and required to imagine a future event involving the three details. We predicted that, relative to the Congruent condition, future simulation in the Incongruent condition would be associated with increased activity in regions of the default mode, frontoparietal and salience networks. Second, we hypothesized that individual differences in cognitive flexibility, as measured by performance on the Alternate Uses Task, would correspond to individual differences in the brain regions recruited during future imagination. A task partial least squares (PLS) analysis showed that the Incongruent condition resulted in an increase in activity in regions in salience networks (e.g. the insula) but, contrary to our prediction, reduced activity in many regions of the default mode network (including the hippocampus). A subsequent functional connectivity (within-subject seed PLS) analysis showed that the insula exhibited increased coupling with default mode regions during the Incongruent condition. Finally, a behavioral PLS analysis showed that individual differences in cognitive flexibility were associated with differences in activity in a number of regions from frontoparietal, salience and default-mode networks during both future imagination conditions, further highlighting that the cognitive flexibility underlying future imagination is grounded in the complex interaction of regions in these networks.

EEG 신호 정확도 향상을 위한 시뮬레이션 소프트웨어 개발

본 논문에서는 EEG 신호 기반 기기 또는 소프트웨어를 사용하기 위해 사용자가 본인의 EEG 신호 정확도를 확인하고, 훈련을 통하여 자신의 EEG 신호 정확도를 향상시킬 수 있는 시뮬레이션 소프트웨어를 제안한다. 실험 데이터로는 풍경사진을 보며 편안한 상태에서 발생되는 신호와 수학문제를 풀며 집중 시에 발생되는 신호를 사용한다. 입력되는 EEG 신호는 독립 성분 분석(Independent Component Analysis, ICA)을 적용하여 잡음을 최소화하고 대역 통과 필터(Band Pass Filter)를 통하여 베타파(<TEX>${\beta}$</TEX>, 14-30Hz)만을 취득한다. 취득한 베타파 대역 데이터에서 제곱평균제곱근(Root Mean Square, RMS) 알고리즘을 통하여 특징 정보를 추출하고 지지 벡터 머신(Support Vector Machine, SVM)에 적용하여 분류한다. 분류된 결과는 사용자가 바로 확인할 수 있으며 훈련 전 피험자의 평균 정확도는 79.21%이었던 반면, 연속적인 훈련으로 최고 91.67%의 정확도를 보였다. 이처럼 본 논문에서 개발한 시뮬레이션 소프트웨어는 사용자가 직접 자신의 EEG 신호 정확도를 향상키기는 훈련을 통하여 정확도 향상이 가능하고, EEG 신호 기반으로 이루어진 BCI 시스템의 효율적인 사용을 기대할 수 있다. In this paper, we introduce our simulation software for EEG signal accuracy improvement. Users can check and train own EEG signal accuracy using our simulation software. Subjects were shown emotional imagination condition with landscape photography and logical imagination condition with a mathematical problem to subject. We use that EEG signal data, and apply Independent Component Analysis algorithm for noise removal. So we can have beta waves(<TEX>${\beta}$</TEX>, 14-30Hz) data through Band Pass Filter. We extract feature using Root Mean Square algorithm and That features are classified through Support Vector Machine. The classification result is 78.21% before EEG signal accuracy improvement training. but after successive training, the result is 91.67%. So user can improve own EEG signal accuracy using our simulation software. And we are expecting efficient use of BCI system based EEG signal.

Pupil Diameter May Reflect Motor Control and Learning

ABSTRACTNon–luminance-mediated changes in pupil diameter have been used since the first studies by Darwin in 1872 as indicators of clinical, cognitive, and arousal states. However, the relation between processes involved in motor control and changes in pupil diameter remains largely unknown. Twenty participants attempted to compensate random walks of a cursor with a computer mouse to restrain its trajectory within a target circle while the authors recorded their pupil diameters. Two conditions allowed the authors to experimentally manipulate the motor and cognitive components of the task. First, the step size of the cursor's random walk was either large or small leading to 2 task difficulties (difficult or easy). Second, they instructed participants to imagine controlling the cursor by moving the mouse, but without actually moving it (task modality: imagined movement or real movement condition). Task difficulty and modality allowed the authors to show that pupil diameters reflect processes involved in motor control and in the processing of feedback, respectively. Furthermore, the authors also demonstrate that motor learning can be quantified by pupil size. This noninvasive approach provides a promising method for investigating not only motor control, but also motor imagery, a research field of growing importance in sports and rehabilitation.

Keep in touch: The effects of imagined touch support on stress and exploration

Although social support buffers stress and helps individuals to embrace challenges (exploration), individuals often experience stressors when close others are not proximally available to provide support. The current research tested whether imagining supportive touch from a romantic partner promotes exploration and buffers stress better than imagining verbal support or control imagination tasks. Participants completed a 5-min imagined support manipulation prior to experiencing a physical stressor, the cold pressor pain task (Exp. 1) or social/performance stressors, the Trier Social Stress task (Exp. 2). In Experiment 1, participants who imagined touch support experienced pain-buffering benefits compared to participants who imagined verbal support, and women who imagined touch support were more likely than women in other conditions to accept the challenge of a more difficult cold pressor task. In Experiment 2, participants who imagined touch support were more buffered from the stress of the socially-evaluative tasks and viewed these tasks with more enthusiasm than participants in all other imagination conditions. Potential mechanisms and implications are discussed.

Deconstructing the nature of episodic foresight deficits associated with chronic opiate use.

Episodic foresight refers to the capacity to mentally travel forward in time and has been linked to a wide variety of important functional behaviours. Evidence has recently emerged that chronic opiate use is associated with deficits in this critical capacity and that these difficulties are not simply a secondary consequence of broader cognitive dysfunction. The current study aimed to better understand the circumstances in which chronic opiate users might be expected to have problems with episodic foresight, by addressing whether deficits reflect compromised scene construction, self-projection, or narrative ability. Thirty-five chronic opiate users and 35 demographically matched controls completed an imagination task in which they were instructed to imagine and provide descriptions of an atemporal event, a plausible, self-relevant future event, as well as complete a narrative task. These three imagination conditions systematically varied in their demands on scene construction, self-projection, and narrative ability. Consistent with prior literature, chronic opiate users exhibited reduced capacity for episodic foresight relative to controls. However, this study was the first to show that these difficulties were independent of capacity for scene construction and narration. Instead, a specific impairment in self-projection into the future appears to contribute to the problems with episodic foresight seen in this clinical group. Deficits in self-projection into the future may have important implications in therapeutic environments given that many relapse prevention strategies rely heavily on the ability to project oneself into an unfamiliar future, free of problem substance use. A reduced capacity for episodic foresight highlights the importance of refining current relapse prevention protocols that place significant demands for mental time travel into the future. Psychosocial treatments should focus on the attainment of more immediate or short-term goals. It is difficult to delineate the effects of specific substances given long-standing drug use history common to chronic opiate users. Conclusions relating to neurological functioning are speculative given the absence of neuroimaging data.

Cognitive constraints on motor imagery.

Executed bimanual movements are prepared slower when moving to symbolically different than when moving to symbolically same targets and when targets are mapped to target locations in a left/right fashion than when they are mapped in an inner/outer fashion [Weigelt et al. (Psychol Res 71:238–447, 2007)]. We investigated whether these cognitive bimanual coordination constraints are observable in motor imagery. Participants performed fast bimanual reaching movements from start to target buttons. Symbolic target similarity and mapping were manipulated. Participants performed four action conditions: one execution and three imagination conditions. In the latter they indicated starting, ending, or starting and ending of the movement. We measured movement preparation (RT), movement execution (MT) and the combined duration of movement preparation and execution (RTMT). In all action conditions RTs and MTs were longer in movements towards different targets than in movements towards same targets. Further, RTMTs were longer when targets were mapped to target locations in a left/right fashion than when they were mapped in an inner/outer fashion, again in all action conditions. RTMTs in imagination and execution were similar, apart from the imagination condition in which participants indicated the start and the end of the movement. Here MTs, but not RTs, were longer than in the execution condition. In conclusion, cognitive coordination constraints are present in the motor imagery of fast (<1600 ms) bimanual movements. Further, alternations between inhibition and execution may prolong the duration of motor imagery.