Vividness Of Motor Imagery Research Articles

Effect of Physical Fatigue Elicited by Continuous and Intermittent Exercise on Motor Imagery Ability

ABSTRACT Purpose: The ability to perform motor imagery (MI) might be impaired by the physical fatigue elicited during training. Interestingly, there is also theoretical support for a more limited influence of fatigue in the existing literature. Method: We evaluated MI ability before and after two exercise protocols: (i) a continuous exercise of 20 min performed on a cycle ergometer at 80% of the secondary ventilatory threshold (Continuous exercise), and (ii) an intermittent exercise of 20 min involving sprints at maximal intensity performed with regular intervals (Intermittent exercise). MI ability evaluations were performed using validated behavioral (mental chronometry) and psychometric (subjective reports) methods. MI ability evaluations included mental rehearsal of a motor sequence which involved the main effectors of the exercise protocols (walking), and mental rehearsal of a motor task which did not involve the main somatic effectors of the exercise protocols (pointing movements with the upper limbs). Results: Mental chronometry showed that MI ability was degraded only after Intermittent exercise, while self-report measures of MI vividness revealed that MI ability was primarily impaired during MI of the walking task. Conclusions: Present results suggest that Intermittent exercise engaging anaerobic processes of energy expenditure, but not Continuous exercise engaging aerobic processes of energy expenditure, impaired MI ability. Findings are discussed in relation to the internal models theory of motor simulation, specifically changes in current state of the motor system under the fatigued state-affecting motor predictions. Present findings may contribute to successful applications of MI training in sports and rehabilitation.

Cerebral haemodynamics during motor imagery of self-feeding with chopsticks: differences between dominant and non-dominant hand

Purpose: Motor imagery is defined as a dynamic state during which a subject mentally simulates a given action without overt movements. Our aim was to use near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate differences in cerebral haemodynamics during motor imagery of self-feeding with chopsticks using the dominant or non-dominant hand.Materials and methods: Twenty healthy right-handed people participated in this study. The motor imagery task involved eating sliced cucumber pickles using chopsticks with the dominant (right) or non-dominant (left) hand. Activation of regions of interest (pre-supplementary motor area, supplementary motor area, pre-motor area, pre-frontal cortex, and sensorimotor cortex was assessed.Results: Motor imagery vividness of the dominant hand tended to be significantly higher than that of the non-dominant hand. The time of peak oxygenated haemoglobin was significantly earlier in the right pre-frontal cortex than in the supplementary motor area and left pre-motor area. Haemodynamic correlations were detected in more regions of interest during dominant-hand motor imagery than during non-dominant-hand motor imagery.Conclusions: Haemodynamics might be affected by differences in motor imagery vividness caused by variations in motor manipulation.

Neural Efficiency and Acquired Motor Skills: An fMRI Study of Expert Athletes.

The neural efficiency hypothesis was investigated. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to study the differences in brain activity between athletes imagining performing different movements: basketball athletes imagined throwing and volleyball athletes imagined serving. These comparisons of brain activity among athletes imagining movements from their self-sport (e.g., a basketball throw in basketball athletes) versus movements from other sport (e.g., a volleyball serve in basketball athletes) revealed the neural energy consumption each task costs. The results showed better temporal congruence between motor execution and motor imagery and vividness of motor imagery, but lower levels of activation in the left putamen, inferior parietal lobule, supplementary motor area, postcentral gyrus, and the right insula when both groups of athletes imagined movements from their self-sport compared with when they imagined movements from the other-sport. Athletes were more effective in the representation of the motor sequences and the interoception of the motor sequences for their self-sport. The findings of present study suggest that elite athletes achieved superior behavioral performance with minimal neural energy consumption, thus confirming the neural efficiency hypotheses.

Subjective vividness of motor imagery has a neural signature in human premotor and parietal cortex

Motor imagery (MI) is the process in which subjects imagine executing a body movement with a strong kinesthetic component from a first-person perspective. The individual capacity to elicit such mental images is not universal but varies within and between subjects. Neuroimaging studies have shown that these inter-as well as intra-individual differences in imagery quality mediate the amplitude of neural activity during MI on a group level. However, these analyses were not sensitive to forms of representation that may not map onto a simple modulation of overall amplitude. Therefore, the present study asked how far the subjective impression of motor imagery vividness is reflected by a spatial neural code, and how patterns of neural activation in different motor regions relate to specific imagery impressions. During fMRI scanning, 20 volunteers imagined three different types of right-hand actions. After each imagery trial, subjects were asked to evaluate the perceived vividness of their imagery. A correlation analysis compared the rating differences and neural dissimilarity values of the rating groups separately for each region of interest. Results showed a significant positive correlation in the left vPMC and right IPL, indicating that these regions particularly reflect perceived imagery vividness in that similar rated trials evoke more similar neural patterns. A decoding analysis revealed that the vividness of the motor image related systematically to the action specificity of neural activation patterns in left vPMC and right SPL. Imagined actions accompanied by higher vividness ratings were significantly more distinguishable within these areas. Altogether, results showed that spatial patterns of neural activity within the human motor cortices reflect the individual vividness of imagined actions. Hence, the findings reveal a link between the subjective impression of motor imagery vividness and objective physiological markers.

Vividness and accuracy: Two independent aspects of motor imagery

Motor imagery is the mental execution of an action without any actual movement. Although numerous studies have utilized questionnaires to evaluate the vividness of motor imagery, it remains unclear whether it is related to the accuracy of motor imagery. To examine the relationship between vividness and accuracy, we investigated brain activity during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery, by using a novel sequential finger-tapping task. We estimated accuracy by measuring the fidelity of the actual performance and evaluated vividness by using a visual analog scale. We found that accuracy of visual motor imagery was correlated with the activity in the left visual cortex, as well as with bilateral sensorimotor regions. In contrast, vividness of visual motor imagery was associated with the activity in the right orbitofrontal cortex. However, there was no correlation in the brain activity between the right orbitofrontal cortex and visuomotor regions or between vividness and accuracy of motor imagery. In addition, we did not find any correlation in the kinesthetic imagery condition. We conclude that vividness of visual motor imagery is associated with the right orbitofrontal cortex and is independent of processes occurring in sensorimotor regions, which would be responsible for the accuracy of visual motor imagery.

Subjective Vividness of Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Is Associated With the Similarity in Magnitude of Sensorimotor Event-Related Desynchronization Between Motor Execution and Motor Imagery

In the field of psychology, it has been well established that there are two types of motor imagery such as kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI) and visual motor imagery (VMI), and the subjective evaluation for vividness of motor imagery each differs across individuals. This study aimed to examine how the motor imagery ability assessed by the psychological scores is associated with the physiological measure using electroencephalogram (EEG) sensorimotor rhythm during KMI task. First, 20 healthy young individuals evaluated subjectively how vividly they can perform each of KMI and VMI by using the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ). We assessed their motor imagery abilities by summing each of KMI and VMI scores in KVIQ (KMItotal and VMItotal). Second, in physiological experiments, they repeated two strengths (10 and 40% of maximal effort) of isometric voluntary wrist-dorsiflexion. Right after each contraction, they also performed its KMI. The scalp EEGs over the sensorimotor cortex were recorded during the tasks. The EEG power is known to decrease in the alpha-and-beta band (7–35 Hz) from resting state to performing state of voluntary contraction (VC) or motor imagery. This phenomenon is referred to as event-related desynchronization (ERD). For each strength of the tasks, we calculated the maximal peak of ERD during VC, and that during its KMI, and measured the degree of similarity (ERDsim) between them. The results showed significant negative correlations between KMItotal and ERDsim for both strengths (p < 0.05) (i.e., the higher the KMItotal, the smaller the ERDsim). These findings suggest that in healthy individuals with higher motor imagery ability from a first-person perspective, KMI efficiently engages the shared cortical circuits corresponding with motor execution, including the sensorimotor cortex, with high compliance.

Differences in accuracy and vividness of motor imagery in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Motor imagery (MI) provides a unique window on the integrity of movement representation. Studies have shown that children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) experience problems with tasks thought to rely on an internal model of movements. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare MI accuracy and MI vividness between typically developing (TD) and children with DCD. Ninety-three children with ages between 7 and 12 years (TD: n = 51; DCD: n = 42) were tested with the Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-c) to assess MI vividness and the Florida Praxis Imagery Questionnaire (FPIQ) to assess MI accuracy. To compare differences between the groups for each assessment and in the subscales, two separate general linear model analyses were conducted: A 2 × 3 (Group [TD, DCD] × Subscales [internal visual imagery, external visual imagery, kinesthetic imagery]) for MI vividness and a 2 × 4 (Group [TD, DCD] × Subscales [position, object, kinesthetic, action]) for MI accuracy. Results indicated that children with DCD scored significantly lower (p < .05) on MI accuracy than TD children, but there were no significant differences between the groups on MI vividness. Additionally, there were significant differences in the subscales for both measurements of MI. Specifically, results showed lower scores overall for the kinesthetic subscale. These findings indicate that the MI deficit seen in children with DCD is probably associated with MI accuracy, not MI vividness. These results suggest the need of further exploration into specific measurements of MI in children with DCD.

Age and gender differences in motor imagery

This study aimed: – to investigate the age- and gender-related effect on motor imagery (MI) in vividness and chronometry capabilities; – to examine the relationship between these two dimensions of MI. Seventy-two (47% of men) good imagers including 41 young subjects [mean ± standard deviation (M ± SD): 22.1 ± 3.1 years] and 31 older subjects (M ± SD: 72.6 ± 5.4 years) were assessed on MI vividness using the revised version of the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ-2) and on the performances on the real Timed Up and Go (rTUG) test and its imagined version (iTUG). The main outcome variables were the VMIQ-2 score (each modality) and the delta-TUG (difference between realized rTUG and iTUG). Mental vividness was affected by aging with a loss of visual dominance in favor of kinesthetic imagery in older subjects compared to younger ones ( P < 0.05). rTUG and iTUG were performed faster in young than in old subjects, but no difference between the groups were found in chronometry measured by delta-TUG ( P > 0.05). Vividness capabilities were similar between men and women, but chronometry was better in women than men (i.e. shorter delta-TUG; P < 0.05). VMIQ-2 scores were not associated with delta-TUG in the adjusted model, while only gender was significantly associated with delta-TUG. This study was revealed: – an age-related transfer from a visual to a kinesthetic MI ability, but no impact on mental chronometry; – a gender effect on mental chronometry without any impact on mental vividness; – no association between vividness and chronometry capabilities.

Age and gender differences in motor imagery

BackgroundFew studies have explored the effects of ageing and gender in the dimensions of motor imagery (MI) such as vividness (vivid images and sensations of mental movements) and timing (the duration of an imagined movement). This study aims 1) to investigate the effect of age and gender effect in vividness and timing capabilities on MI, and 2) to examine the relationship between these two dimensions of MI. MethodsA population of 72 (47% of males) good imagers including 41 young subjects and 31 older subjects were assessed on MI vividness using the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ-2) and on MI timing using the performances of the real Timed Up and Go (rTUG) test and its imagined version (iTUG). The main outcome variables were the VMIQ-2 score and the delta-TUG, i.e. the difference between rTUG and iTUG. ResultsMental vividness was affected by ageing with a loss of visual dominance in favor of kinesthetic imagery in older subjects compared to younger ones; however, no difference between both groups was found in timing measured by delta-TUG. Vividness capabilities were similar between men and women, but women performed better in timing. VMIQ-2 scores were not associated with delta-TUG; only gender was significantly associated with delta-TUG. ConclusionsThis study revealed 1) an age-related transfer from a visual to a kinesthetic MI ability, but no impact on timing of MI; 2) a gender effect on timing with no impact on mental vividness; 3) no association between vividness and timing capabilities.

Motor experience with a sport-specific implement affects motor imagery

The present study tested whether sport-specific implements facilitate motor imagery, whereas nonspecific implements disrupt motor imagery. We asked a group of basketball players (experts) and a group of healthy controls (novices) to physically perform (motor execution) and mentally simulate (motor imagery) basketball throws. Subjects produced motor imagery when they were holding a basketball, a volleyball, or nothing. Motor imagery performance was measured by temporal congruence, which is the correspondence between imagery and execution times estimated as (imagery time minus execution time) divided by (imagery time plus execution time), as well as the vividness of motor imagery. Results showed that experts produced greater temporal congruence and vividness of kinesthetic imagery while holding a basketball compared to when they were holding nothing, suggesting a facilitation effect from sport-specific implements. In contrast, experts produced lower temporal congruence and vividness of kinesthetic imagery while holding a volleyball compared to when they were holding nothing, suggesting the interference effect of nonspecific implements. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between temporal congruence and the vividness of kinesthetic imagery in experts while holding a basketball. On the contrary, the implement manipulation did not modulate the temporal congruence of novices. Our findings suggest that motor representation in experts is built on motor experience associated with specific-implement use and thus was subjected to modulation of the implement held. We conclude that sport-specific implements facilitate motor imagery, whereas nonspecific implements could disrupt motor representation in experts.

Expertise-Level-Dependent Functionally Plastic Changes During Motor Imagery in Basketball Players

Motor imagery is the mental process of rehearsing or simulating a given action without overt movements. The aim of the present study is to examine plastic changes in relevant brain areas during motor imagery with increasing expertise level. Subjects (novices, intermediate and elite players) performed motor imagery of basketball throws under two experimental conditions (with-ball and without-ball). We found that all basketball players exhibited better temporal congruence (between motor imagery and motor execution) and higher vividness of motor imagery than novices. The vividness of motor imagery was higher for the with-ball than for the without-ball conditions in all three subject groups. The results from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) showed three different patterns of cortical activation. Activation in the left middle frontal gyrus increased and that in the left supplementary motor area decreased with increasing levels of motor expertise. Importantly, brain activation in the left postcentral gyrus was the highest in the intermediate players compared to both novices and elite players. For the elite group, these three areas showed higher activation in the without-ball condition than the with-ball condition, while the opposite trend was found in intermediate players. Our findings suggest that the level of motor expertise may be related to high-order brain functions that are linked to different activation patterns in different brain areas.

P 20 fMRI-associations with performance increase by mental imagery training of finger sequence

Objective Motor imagery (MI) is the mental simulation of action frequently used by professionals in different fields. The knowledge about changes in functional representation of motor patterns trained with mental imagery is sparse. In addition, we do not know how changes in functional representation during imagery training are associated with preciseness of imagined performance. We therefore intended to investigate changes in functional representation going along with performance changes (error, velocity) during a highly controlled (for intensity and temporal accuracy) mental imagery training (finger sequence performance) in 51 healthy young volunteers. Methods fMRI: mental imagery was measured with fMRI (3 Tesla, EPI with TR: 2 s) over 170 s pre and post training. Executed movements before and after training served for the assessment of training gain. Participants were instructed to move or to imagine moving the fingers of the right hand in a specific order in time with a 2 Hz blinking dot. Participants were given a key pad and were instructed to combine kinesthetic and visual imagery strategies. We tested the temporal congruence of the imagined finger sequence 10 times during training and rated imagery vividness on a 7-point Likert scale. Imaging analysis was performed using a full factorial design with SPM8 and a significance level of p . 05 , corrected for the whole brain volume (FWE). Linear regression (ROI-analysis for hippocampus, fusiform gyrus, BA 6, BA 44, parietal sulcus, cerebellar hemisphere; FWE; p . 05 ) was performed for performance changes over training (error, velocity) and scores during training for the changes for the MI-task over time. In addition, we tested whether training outcome (error, velocity) could be predicted by MI-pre-measurement. Results Performance increased for spatial accuracy (less errors; (t(47) = 1.99; p(one sided) = .026)) and velocity of finger movements (t(47) = 4.01; p = .001). For fMRI we found expected differences between the EX and MI task ( Fig. 1 , top left). Only the MI task showed fMRI-changes over time ( Fig. 1 , top right). fMRI-activation change in the fusiform gyrus went along with rated intensity of imagery during training ( Fig. 1 , bottom left). fMRI-activation intensity of left hippocampus during MIpre predicted spatial accuracy after training (error number low; Fig. 1 , bottom right). Conclusion Mental imagery minus execution of finger sequence showed increased intraparietal sulcus activation comparable to previous studies ( Boecker et al., 2002 ). Inferior left parietal activation during MI was increasing over training. The anterior hippocampus and the fusiform gyrus have been identified as important for spatial imagery before ( Jahn et al., 2009 ). Here we showed that the right anterior hippocampus during pre-training MI is predictive for spatial accuracy after training - a finding also reported before ( Huijbers et al., 2011 ). Only fMRI was capable of predicting spatial preciseness outcome but not imagery scores (MIQ, vividness). However, MI vividness rated during training was associated with increase of fusiform gyrus activation over training indicating high visual imagery strategies ( Huijbers et al., 2011 ).

Surround inhibition in motor execution and motor imagery

Surround inhibition (SI) is a neural mechanism to focus neuronal activity and facilitate selective motor execution (ME). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether SI is also generated during motor imagery (MI). Furthermore, we investigated whether the extent of SI during MI depends on the strength of SI during ME and/or vividness of MI. The extent of SI was examined during MI and ME of index finger flexion. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied at rest, during initiation of the movement (phasic phase) and during tonic muscle contraction of the index finger flexors. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from a surround muscle, abductor digiti minimi (ADM) and a synergistic muscle, the first dorsal interosseous muscle. The amplitude of ADM MEP was reduced during the phasic phase, which indicates that SI occurred during ME. In seven of 14 subjects, SI was also observed during MI, although this effect was not significant. There was a moderate correlation between the extent of SI during ME and MI. Furthermore, good imagers who experienced vivid MI during the MI task showed stronger SI than poor imagers. These results indicate that common neural substrates involved in SI during ME are at least in part recruited during MI. In clinical situations, the therapeutic use of MI to generate vivid MI may be one of effective tool to develop the strength of SI, which facilitate selective execution of desired movements

Interactive virtual feedback improves gait motor imagery after spinal cord injury: An exploratory study

Purpose: Motor imagery can improve motor function and reduce pain. This is relevant to individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) in whom motor dysfunction and neuropathic pain are prevalent. However, therapy efficacy could be dependent on motor imagery ability, and a clear understanding of how motor imagery might be facilitated is currently lacking. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the immediate effects of interactive virtual feedback on motor imagery performance after SCI.Methods: Nine individuals with a traumatic SCI participated in the experiment. Motor imagery tasks consisted of forward (i.e. simpler) and backward (i.e. more complex) walking while receiving interactive versus static virtual feedback. Motor imagery performance (vividness, effort and speed), neuropathic pain intensity and feasibility (immersion, distraction, side-effects) were assessed.Results: During interactive feedback trials, motor imagery vividness and speed were significantly higher and effort was significantly lower as compared static feedback trials. No change in neuropathic pain was observed. Adverse effects were minor, and immersion was reported to be good.Conclusions: This exploratory study showed that interactive virtual walking was feasible and facilitated motor imagery performance. The response to motor imagery interventions after SCI might be improved by using interactive virtual feedback.

Damage to Fronto-Parietal Networks Impairs Motor Imagery Ability after Stroke: A Voxel-Based Lesion Symptom Mapping Study.

Background: Mental practice with motor imagery has been shown to promote motor skill acquisition in healthy subjects and patients. Although lesions of the common motor imagery and motor execution neural network are expected to impair motor imagery ability, functional equivalence appears to be at least partially preserved in stroke patients.Aim: To identify brain regions that are mandatory for preserved motor imagery ability after stroke.Method: Thirty-seven patients with hemiplegia after a first time stroke participated. Motor imagery ability was measured using a Motor Imagery questionnaire and temporal congruence test. A voxelwise lesion symptom mapping approach was used to identify neural correlates of motor imagery in this cohort within the first year post-stroke.Results: Poor motor imagery vividness was associated with lesions in the left putamen, left ventral premotor cortex and long association fibers linking parieto-occipital regions with the dorsolateral premotor and prefrontal areas. Poor temporal congruence was otherwise linked to lesions in the more rostrally located white matter of the superior corona radiata.Conclusion: This voxel-based lesion symptom mapping study confirms the association between white matter tract lesions and impaired motor imagery ability, thus emphasizing the importance of an intact fronto-parietal network for motor imagery. Our results further highlight the crucial role of the basal ganglia and premotor cortex when performing motor imagery tasks.

運動スキルの違いが運動イメージ鮮明度に及ぼす影響

〔目的〕運動スキルが運動イメージ鮮明度に及ぼす影響について検討することとした．〔対象〕健常学生40名とした．〔方法〕不安定で予測が不可能な環境で行うスキルであるオープンスキル競技の経験者，安定して予測が可能な環境で行うスキルであるクローズドスキル競技の経験者に分け，JMIQ-Rを用いて測定した運動イメージ鮮明度を比較検討した．〔結果〕オープンスキル競技の経験者とクローズドスキル競技の経験者において，運動イメージ鮮明度に有意差は認められなかった．〔結語〕運動スキルの経験の違いは，運動イメージ鮮明度に影響を与えないことが示唆された．オープンスキル競技経験者とクローズドスキル競技経験者では，メンタルプラクティスの効果に差がない可能性がある．

Differences in cortical activation between observing one's own gait and the gait of others: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we investigated cortical activation while participants observed their own gait and the gait of others. Further, we compared the vividness of motor imagery induced by observing one's own and the gait of others. Participants were instructed to perform a gait observation task. The task had two conditions: observing video clips of one's own walking and observing video clips of other individuals walking. After observing the videos, the participants were asked to evaluate the vividness of the mental image of the observed gait on a visual analog scale. When observing one's own gait, the right dorsal premotor cortex and the superior parietal lobule were activated, whereas when observing the gait of others, the left inferior parietal lobule was activated. Observing one's own gait induced imagery that was significantly more vivid than that induced when viewing the gait of others. We suggest that observing one's own gait generates a representation of one's own body in the brain and induces more vivid gait imagery.

The effect of somatosensory input on motor imagery depends upon motor imagery capability

We investigated that the relationship between motor imagery ability and the effect of tactile input associated with holding a tennis racket on motor imagery of the forehand and backhand swings. The effect was assessed by the time utilized for motor imagery (mental chronometry). Seventeen tennis players imagined forehand and backhand swings with a forehand grip, a backhand grip or while holding nothing. In all cases, imaging the swings took longer than the time taken for a real swing. For imagery of the backhand swing, holding a racket with a backhand grip decreased the imaging time (p < 0.05) as compared to the trials with a forehand grip or while holding nothing. On the other hand, holding the racket with a backhand grip tended to increase the time required for forehand swing imagery. These results suggest that a congruent grip improves, and an incongruent grip deteriorates, motor imagery of the backhand swing. For players who took a longer time in the condition where they held nothing (i.e., poor imaging ability), the effect of a congruent backhand grip was greater (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). However, a congruent forehand grip did not improve motor imagery of the forehand swing. Since 15 of the participants in the present study favored the forehand swing compared to the backhand swing, the participants would have been more familiar with the forehand swing. Thus it would have been easy to vividly imagine the (familiar) forehand swing even when they were not holding a racket. We speculate that tactile input associated with holding a tool improves a vividness of motor imagery of a less familiar movement, especially for those who have poor imaging ability. In the future, it will be important to clarify whether the effect of tactile input associated with holding a tool is dependent upon movement familiarity/performance level.

Short-Term Kinesthetic Training for Sensorimotor Rhythms: Effects in Experts and Amateurs

ABSTRACTThe authors’ aim was to examine whether short-term kinesthetic training affects the level of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) in different frequency band: alpha (8–12 Hz), lower beta (12.5–16 Hz) and beta (16.5–20 Hz) during the execution of a motor imagery task of closing and opening the right and the left hand by experts (jugglers, practicing similar exercises on an everyday basis) and amateurs (individuals not practicing any sports). It was found that the performance of short kinesthetic training increases the power of alpha rhythm when executing imagery tasks only in the group of amateurs. Therefore, kinesthetic training may be successfully used as a method increasing the vividness of motor imagery, for example, in tasks involving the control of brain–computer interfaces based on SMR.

Assessing motor imagery ability in younger and older adults by combining measures of vividness, controllability and timing of motor imagery

With the population aging, a large number of patients undergoing rehabilitation are older than 60 years. Also, since the use of motor imagery (MI) training in rehabilitation is becoming more popular, it is important to gain a better knowledge about the age-related changes in MI ability.The main goal of this study was to compare MI ability in younger and older adults as well as to propose a new procedure for testing this ability. Thirty healthy young subjects (mean age: 22.9±2.7 years) and 28 healthy elderly subjects (mean age: 72.4±5.5 years) participated in the experiment. They were administered three tests aimed at assessing three dimensions of MI: (1) the kinesthetic and visual imagery questionnaire (KVIQ) to assess MI vividness; (2) a finger–thumb opposition task to assess MI controllability; and (3) a chronometric task to assess the timing of MI. On average, the younger and older groups showed similar results on the KVIQ and the chronometric task, but the younger group was more accurate at the finger–thumb opposition task. Interestingly, there was a large variability in the performance within both groups, emphasizing the importance of considering each person individually regarding MI ability, whatever his age. Finally, we propose two indexes of MI ability to identify the potential of persons to engage in MI training programs. Future studies are needed to confirm the predictive value of these MI indexes and define inclusion/exclusion thresholds for their use as a screening tool in both younger and older adults.