Mental imagery is a multimodal cognitive simulation process that enables us to represent perceptualinformation in our minds in the absence of actual sensory input (Munzert et al., 2009). Withinthis construct, motor imagery (MI) is a dynamic mental state during which the representation ofa given motor movement is rehearsed in working memory without overt motor output (Decety,1996). A popular and widely investigated application of MI is “motor imagery practice” (MIP; alsoknown as “mental practice”) which is a mental simulation process that involves the systematic useof imagery to covertly rehearse a movement without actually executing it (Di Rienzo et al., 2016).Research shows that MIP is effective in enhancing skilled performance both in healthy populations(Driskell et al., 1994) and in clinical groups (e.g., Mateo et al., 2015). It not only improves motorlearning (e.g., Kraeutner et al., 2016) but also induces “neural plasticity” (e.g., Debarnot et al., 2014)or the capacity of the brain to reshape its physical structure as a direct result of repeated experience.Despite such findings, relatively little is known about certain cognitive changes induced by,and/or associated with, MIP. In this opinion piece, we consider four such questions. Firstly, how doparticipants in MIP studies construct procedural representations from the instructions presented tothem in imagery scripts? Secondly, what is known about the interaction between working memory(WM) and MIP? Thirdly, how do cognitive representations of covertly rehearsed skills changeduring MIP? Finally, what aspects of MI skills change over time as a function of MIP? Beforeaddressing these issues, however, we must consider how MIP effects are typically explained.
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