From Motor Images to Motor Programs

This chapter reviews findings from different experiments that were designed to explore the nature of mentally represented actions. Insight into motor images was obtained using several methods. Chronométrie analysis revealed a striking similarity between the duration of actually executed actions and their represented counterparts. A significant vegetative activation (as tested by studying cardiorespiratory changes) was found during represented actions. This activation was proportional to the degree of imagined effort. These results suggest that motor images share the same neural mechanisms as those that are responsible for programming and preparing real movements. Information provided by regional cerebral blood flow mapping, showing that the same brain areas are involved in the two conditions, tends to confirm this hypothesis. On the basis of these results it is concluded that mental rehearsal techniques, using controlled motor imagery in patients with motor disorders of central origin, should become a valuable technique for rehabilitation.