Effect of Different Mental Imagery Speeds on the Motor Performance: Investigation of the Role of Mirror Neurons

Imagery is a cognitive process playing a vital role in the programming and execution of movements and can be used as a tool for learning motor skills, retraining movements, and also clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different mental imagery speeds on motor performance and to evaluate the role of the mirror neurons.
This research was carried out as a semi-experimental study using pretest-posttest design. Forty female students (mean age, 22±1.12), were selected by purposeful sampling and assigned to four groups (fast-speed, equal-speed, low-speed imagery, and control). Following the basketball dribble function in pretests, the subjects performed imagery for 4 consecutive days, then, they were tested for real dribble function. In the end, the brain waves of the participants were recorded during the imagery, and the mirror neuron response were recorded using an electroencephalography system. The data were analyzed using intragroup analysis of variance. The significant level was considered 5%.
All the imagery groups progressed in their performance (p≤0.05). In terms of the size effect, the low-speed and equal-speed imagery groups showed better performance compared to the fast-speed imagery group. Additionally, it was revealed that mirror neurons had higher function in the low-speed imagery group.
The results of this study showed that mirror neurons within the premotor cortex are an important neural mechanism in the brain activity pattern, which causes the effectiveness of imagery in the improvement of motor skills.