Researchers from the Department of Nursing, Pochon CHA University in Kyonggi-Do, Korea, compared the impact of feeling state guided imagery (FSGI – imagery to generally improve mood) and end state guided imagery (ESGI – imagery to imagine successful performance) on stress levels and quality of performance in nursing students learning to give intramuscular (IM) injections.

The subjects were 40 female sophomores (21 for the ESGI, 19 for the FSGI). The instruments used were the Visual Analogue Scale for Stress and the Nursing Skill Performance Check-list on Intramuscular Injection, developed by the researchers. Guided imagery was provided through audiotapes for 8 minutes. A pretest was given before applying the guided imagery; the first posttest was taken after the intervention; and the second posttest was taken before the intramuscular injection.  Evaluation of the performance of the intramuscular injection was done immediately afterward. 

Imagery Rehearsal Found Critical in Motor Rehab for Stroke, Better than Physical Practice Alone

Researchers from the University of Lyon in Bron Cedex, France tested whether "mental rehearsal" (motor imagery) is equivalent to physical learning in restoring motor function in hemiplegic patients (paralyzed on one side), and examined what would be optimal proportions of real execution vs. rehearsal.

Subjects were asked to grasp an object and insert it into an adapted slot. One group (G0) practiced the task only by physical execution (240 trials); three groups imagined performing the task in different rates of trials (25%, G25; 50%, G50; 75%, G75), and physically executed movements for the remaining trials; a fourth, control group imagined a visual rotation task in 75% of the trials and then performed the same motor task as the other groups.

In Neurological Rehab, Imagining Movement Delivers the Goods

A Dutch literature review concludes that imagining movement creates the same flow of sensory information that leads to the reacquisition of motor skills.

In rehab, active exercising creates the flow of sensory information responsible for the learning or relearning of lost (or newly needed) motor skills. This review article addresses whether active physical exercise is always necessary for creating this sensory flow.

It points to numerous studies indicating that motor imagery can result in the same plastic changes in the motor system that actual physical practice provides. Motor imagery is the mental execution of a movement without any overt, corresponding movement or without any peripheral (muscle) activation.

 

Guided Motor Imagery Helps with Athletic Performance, Neurological Conditions

Investigators at the University of Haifa in Israel reviewed the literature to determine the positive effects of guided motor imagery practice on motor performance. There is abundant evidence that motor performance is improved in athletes, people who are healthy, and people with neurological conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease. This article discusses how to integrate motor imagery into a physical therapy practice and goes into particulars of visual and kinesthetic motor imagery, factors that modify motor imagery practice, the design of motor imagery protocols, and potential applications of motor imagery.

Citation: Dickstein R, Deutsch JE. Motor imagery in physical therapist practice. Physical Therapy. 2007 Jul; 87 (7): pages 942-53. Epub 2007 May 1 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Researchers from the School of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario investigated how ten sports-injured athletes used guided imagery during the course of their physiotherapy treatment. In-depth interviews established that the athletes clearly believed the imagery served cognitive, motivational and healing purposes in effectively rehabilitating their injury.

A Canadian survey of coaches and athletes finds that guided imagery is consistently used more for competition than for recreational athletics, and for higher level athletes (international, national & varsity competition) .

Researchers from the School of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada looked at whether coaches encourage their athletes to use imagery, using a survey given to coaches and another given to athletes. In the first, 317 athletes completed the Coaches'' Encouragement of Athletes'' Imagery Use Questionnaire. In the second, 215 coaches completed a slightly modified version of this questionnaire.

Researchers from the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, UK, conducted a study with 209 pupils to see if a stress management training program could improve their academic performance. The students were randomly assigned to either a cognitive behaviorally based stress management intervention (SMI) group, or a non-intervention control group.

A study tests the effectiveness of a guided imagery-based career transition program, and finds it is associated with higher rates of return to full time employment and greater perceived control over the job loss..

This randomized study examined the effectiveness of a guided imagery-based career transition program as compared to a placebo control condition in promoting reemployment in 52 unemployed business people recruited from four different outplacement firms in seven locations in California (60% male, 83% Caucasian, mean age: 46.8).

At the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, researchers examined the effects of hypnotic intervention on flow states and golf-chipping performance of 3 participants. The intervention involved teaching the golfers relaxation, imagery, hypnotic induction, hypnotic regression, and trigger control procedures over 5 weeks and 7 trials. Analysis indicated that the 3 participants increased their mean golf-chipping performance from the trials in Baseline 1 to intervention, with 2 returning to Baseline 1 performance after the intervention phase at Baseline 2. The intensity of flow experienced by the participants during the performance trials was measured using Jackson and Marsh''s 1996 Flow State Scale. Two participants experienced higher flow during the intervention phase and much lower flow during Baselines 1 and 2. Finally, participants reported that the intervention seemed useful in keeping them confident, relaxed, and in control. These results support the hypothesis that relaxation, imagery & hypnosis can improve golf-chipping performance and increase feelings and cognitions associated with flow.

Citation: Pates J, Maynard I. Effects of hypnosis on flow states and golf performance. Perceptual & Motor Skills. 2000, Dec;91(3 Pt 2): Pages 1057-75.