Excessive distress and insomnia are much too common in the modern world and often lead to a myriad of detrimental effects including loss of cognitive ability and even physical ailments such as cancer. Current pharmace...Excessive distress and insomnia are much too common in the modern world and often lead to a myriad of detrimental effects including loss of cognitive ability and even physical ailments such as cancer. Current pharmaceutical treatments can be addictive, detrimental to health, and in the case of insomnia don’t produce naturalistic sleep. We present a viewpoint on a potential adjunctive treatment of distress and insomnia that harnesses specific mental imagery as a component of mind/body relaxation technique. Via our perspective on the modern nature of stress and insomnia, our theoretical perspective on how specific guided mental imagery can be used to treat these ailments, and our review on the current literature on treatment with mental imagery, we hope to stimulate further research into mental health treatment with mental imagery which has traditionally been neglected. This perspective on the pathology of insomnia and distress is founded in prevailing “dysevolution” and hyper-arousal theories. Hyper-arousal is characterized in part by a vicious cycle of chronic physiological and emotional stimulation/distress. We argue for spatially based mental imagery in the form of nighttime-sky imagery to attenuate such pathology by breaking one away from a vicious cycle of stimulation and distress and discuss neuropsychological bases for its potential treatment mechanisms which include the autonomic nervous system and a phenomenal foundation of conscious cognition.展开更多
This study examined the effects of mental imagery in the solution-focused approach by evaluating the impact of positive self-image about the future on emotional states using the time machine question (which is a quest...This study examined the effects of mental imagery in the solution-focused approach by evaluating the impact of positive self-image about the future on emotional states using the time machine question (which is a questioning technique used in the solution-focused approach). We compared the change in the emotional state of 270 participants, using the Japanese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), before and after the intervention. The intervention conditions included: verbal description of one’s positive future on a worksheet (the language description condition), and imagining one’s positive future (the imagery condition). The results of the experiment showed that after the intervention, the scores of the imagery group on the positive and negative affect scales of the PANAS were significantly higher and lower, respectively, than those of the language description group. We also found that the amount of change in the scores of the positive and negative affect scales of the PANAS was significantly larger in the imagery group as compared to the language description group. These results indicate that interventions involving the imagining of one’s future via the time machine question of the solution-focused approach have a more direct impact on emotional states than interventions using a language description. This suggests that mental imagery plays an important role in interventions carried out within the framework of the solution-focused approach.展开更多
Mental practice is a new rehabilitation method that reters to the mental rehearsal ot motor imagery content with the goal of improving motor performance. However, the relationship between activated regions and motor r...Mental practice is a new rehabilitation method that reters to the mental rehearsal ot motor imagery content with the goal of improving motor performance. However, the relationship between activated regions and motor recovery after mental practice training is not well understood. In this study, 15 patients who suffered a firstever subcortical stroke with neurological deficits affecting the right hand, but no significant cognitive impairment were recruited. 10 patients underwent mental practice combined with physical practice training, and 5 patients only underwent physical practice training. We observed brain activation regions after 4 weeks of training, and explored the correlation of activation changes with functional recovery of the affected hands. The results showed that, after 4 weeks of mental practice combined with physical training, the Fugl-Meyer assessment score for the affected right hand was significantly increased than that after 4 weeks of practice training alone. Functional MRI showed enhanced activation in the left primary somatosensory cortex, attenuated activation intensity in the right primary motor cortex, and enhanced right cerebellar activation observed during the motor imagery task using the affected right hand after mental practice training. The changes in brain cortical activity were related to functional recovery of the hand. Experimental findings indicate that cortical and cerebellar functional reorganization following mental practice contributed to the improvement of hand function.展开更多
Motor imagery is defined as an act wherein an individual contemplates a mental action of motor execution without apparent action.Mental practice executed by repetitive motor imagery can improve motor performance witho...Motor imagery is defined as an act wherein an individual contemplates a mental action of motor execution without apparent action.Mental practice executed by repetitive motor imagery can improve motor performance without simultaneous sensory input or overt output.We aimed to investigate cerebral hemodynamics during motor imagery and motor execution of a self-feeding activity using chopsticks.This study included 21 healthy right-handed volunteers.The self-feeding activity task comprised either motor imagery or motor execution of eating sliced cucumber pickles with chopsticks to examine eight regions of interest:pre-supplementary motor area,supplementary motor area,bilateral prefrontal cortex,premotor area,and sensorimotor cortex.The mean oxyhemoglobin levels were detected using near-infrared spectroscopy to reflect cerebral activation.The mean oxyhemoglobin levels during motor execution were significantly higher in the left sensorimotor cortex than in the supplementary motor area and the left premotor area.Moreover,significantly higher oxyhemoglobin levels were detected in the supplementary motor area and the left premotor area during motor imagery,compared to motor execution.Supplementary motor area and premotor area had important roles in the motor imagery of self-feeding activity.Moreover,the activation levels of the supplementary motor area and the premotor area during motor execution and motor imagery are likely affected by intentional cognitive processes.Levels of cerebral activation differed in some areas during motor execution and motor imagery of a self-feeding activity.This study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Nagasaki University(approval No.18110801)on December 10,2018.展开更多
In recent years,mental practice(MP)using laterally inverted video of a subject’s non-paralyzed upper limb to improve the vividness of presented motor imagery(MI)has been shown to be effective for improving the functi...In recent years,mental practice(MP)using laterally inverted video of a subject’s non-paralyzed upper limb to improve the vividness of presented motor imagery(MI)has been shown to be effective for improving the function of a paralyzed upper limb.However,no studies have yet assessed the activity of cortical regions engaged during MI task performance using inverse video presentations and neurophysiological indicators.This study sought to investigate changes in MI vividness and hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex during MI performance under the following three conditions in near-infrared spectroscopy:MI-only without inverse video presentation(MI-only),MI with action observation(AO)of an inverse video presentation of another person’s hand(AO+MI(other hand)),and MI with AO of an inverse video presentation of a participant’s own hand(AO+MI(own hand)).Participants included 66 healthy right-handed adults(41 men and 25 women;mean age:26.3±4.3 years).There were 23 patients in the MI-only group(mean age:26.4±4.1 years),20 in the AO+MI(other hand)group(mean age:25.9±5.0 years),and 23 in the AO+MI(own hand)group(mean age:26.9±4.1 years).The MI task involved transferring 1 cm×1 cm blocks from one plate to another,once per second,using chopsticks held in the non-dominant hand.Based on a visual analog scale(VAS),MI vividness was significantly higher in the AO+MI(own hand)group than in the MI-only group and the AO+MI(other hand)group.A main effect of condition was revealed in terms of MI vividness,as well as regions of interest(ROIs)in certain brain areas associated with motor processing.The data suggest that inverse video presentation of a person’s own hand enhances the MI vividness and increases the activity of motor-related cortical areas during MI.This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences(approval No.18121303)on January 18,2019.展开更多
This article explains an imagery assisted virtual reality psychological skills training program used with a NCAA Division I baseball team. This is the first time that imagery has been incorporated into a virtual reali...This article explains an imagery assisted virtual reality psychological skills training program used with a NCAA Division I baseball team. This is the first time that imagery has been incorporated into a virtual reality program with the goal of increasing mental skills and strategies. Participants for this study were 27 NCAA baseball players. Each participant completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire and the Test of Performance Strategies Questionnaire at baseline and again after the winter season （2 months later）. Results indicated an increase in skill, goals and mastery imagery ability as well as increases in the use of several skills and strategies in both practice and competition. This manuscript focuses on both the development of an Imagery Assisted Virtual Reality program as well as the outcomes of the program.展开更多
Application of continuous repetition of motor imagery can improve the performance of exercise tasks.However,there is a lack of more detailed neurophysiological evidence to support the formulation of clear standards fo...Application of continuous repetition of motor imagery can improve the performance of exercise tasks.However,there is a lack of more detailed neurophysiological evidence to support the formulation of clear standards for interventions using motor imagery.Moreover,identification of motor imagery intervention time is necessary because it exhibits possible central fatigue.Therefore,the purpose of this study was to elucidate the development of fatigue during continuous repetition of motor imagery through objective and subjective evaluation.The study involved two experiments.In experiment 1,14 healthy young volunteers were required to imagine grasping and lifting a 1.5-L plastic bottle using the whole hand.Each participant performed the motor imagery task 100 times under each condition with 48 hours interval between two conditions:500 mL or 1500 mL of water in the bottle during the demonstration phase.Mental fatigue and a decrease in pinch power appeared under the 1500-mL condition.There were changes in concentration ability or corticospinal excitability,as assessed by motor evoked potentials,between each set with continuous repetition of motor imagery also under the 1500-mL condition.Therefore,in experiment 2,12 healthy volunteers were required to perform the motor imagery task 200 times under the 1500-mL condition.Both concentration ability and corticospinal excitability decreased.This is the first study to show that continuous repetition of motor imagery can decrease corticospinal excitability in addition to producing mental fatigue.This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee at the Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences(approval No.18121302)on January 30,2019.展开更多
文摘Excessive distress and insomnia are much too common in the modern world and often lead to a myriad of detrimental effects including loss of cognitive ability and even physical ailments such as cancer. Current pharmaceutical treatments can be addictive, detrimental to health, and in the case of insomnia don’t produce naturalistic sleep. We present a viewpoint on a potential adjunctive treatment of distress and insomnia that harnesses specific mental imagery as a component of mind/body relaxation technique. Via our perspective on the modern nature of stress and insomnia, our theoretical perspective on how specific guided mental imagery can be used to treat these ailments, and our review on the current literature on treatment with mental imagery, we hope to stimulate further research into mental health treatment with mental imagery which has traditionally been neglected. This perspective on the pathology of insomnia and distress is founded in prevailing “dysevolution” and hyper-arousal theories. Hyper-arousal is characterized in part by a vicious cycle of chronic physiological and emotional stimulation/distress. We argue for spatially based mental imagery in the form of nighttime-sky imagery to attenuate such pathology by breaking one away from a vicious cycle of stimulation and distress and discuss neuropsychological bases for its potential treatment mechanisms which include the autonomic nervous system and a phenomenal foundation of conscious cognition.
文摘This study examined the effects of mental imagery in the solution-focused approach by evaluating the impact of positive self-image about the future on emotional states using the time machine question (which is a questioning technique used in the solution-focused approach). We compared the change in the emotional state of 270 participants, using the Japanese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), before and after the intervention. The intervention conditions included: verbal description of one’s positive future on a worksheet (the language description condition), and imagining one’s positive future (the imagery condition). The results of the experiment showed that after the intervention, the scores of the imagery group on the positive and negative affect scales of the PANAS were significantly higher and lower, respectively, than those of the language description group. We also found that the amount of change in the scores of the positive and negative affect scales of the PANAS was significantly larger in the imagery group as compared to the language description group. These results indicate that interventions involving the imagining of one’s future via the time machine question of the solution-focused approach have a more direct impact on emotional states than interventions using a language description. This suggests that mental imagery plays an important role in interventions carried out within the framework of the solution-focused approach.
文摘Mental practice is a new rehabilitation method that reters to the mental rehearsal ot motor imagery content with the goal of improving motor performance. However, the relationship between activated regions and motor recovery after mental practice training is not well understood. In this study, 15 patients who suffered a firstever subcortical stroke with neurological deficits affecting the right hand, but no significant cognitive impairment were recruited. 10 patients underwent mental practice combined with physical practice training, and 5 patients only underwent physical practice training. We observed brain activation regions after 4 weeks of training, and explored the correlation of activation changes with functional recovery of the affected hands. The results showed that, after 4 weeks of mental practice combined with physical training, the Fugl-Meyer assessment score for the affected right hand was significantly increased than that after 4 weeks of practice training alone. Functional MRI showed enhanced activation in the left primary somatosensory cortex, attenuated activation intensity in the right primary motor cortex, and enhanced right cerebellar activation observed during the motor imagery task using the affected right hand after mental practice training. The changes in brain cortical activity were related to functional recovery of the hand. Experimental findings indicate that cortical and cerebellar functional reorganization following mental practice contributed to the improvement of hand function.
文摘Motor imagery is defined as an act wherein an individual contemplates a mental action of motor execution without apparent action.Mental practice executed by repetitive motor imagery can improve motor performance without simultaneous sensory input or overt output.We aimed to investigate cerebral hemodynamics during motor imagery and motor execution of a self-feeding activity using chopsticks.This study included 21 healthy right-handed volunteers.The self-feeding activity task comprised either motor imagery or motor execution of eating sliced cucumber pickles with chopsticks to examine eight regions of interest:pre-supplementary motor area,supplementary motor area,bilateral prefrontal cortex,premotor area,and sensorimotor cortex.The mean oxyhemoglobin levels were detected using near-infrared spectroscopy to reflect cerebral activation.The mean oxyhemoglobin levels during motor execution were significantly higher in the left sensorimotor cortex than in the supplementary motor area and the left premotor area.Moreover,significantly higher oxyhemoglobin levels were detected in the supplementary motor area and the left premotor area during motor imagery,compared to motor execution.Supplementary motor area and premotor area had important roles in the motor imagery of self-feeding activity.Moreover,the activation levels of the supplementary motor area and the premotor area during motor execution and motor imagery are likely affected by intentional cognitive processes.Levels of cerebral activation differed in some areas during motor execution and motor imagery of a self-feeding activity.This study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Nagasaki University(approval No.18110801)on December 10,2018.
文摘In recent years,mental practice(MP)using laterally inverted video of a subject’s non-paralyzed upper limb to improve the vividness of presented motor imagery(MI)has been shown to be effective for improving the function of a paralyzed upper limb.However,no studies have yet assessed the activity of cortical regions engaged during MI task performance using inverse video presentations and neurophysiological indicators.This study sought to investigate changes in MI vividness and hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex during MI performance under the following three conditions in near-infrared spectroscopy:MI-only without inverse video presentation(MI-only),MI with action observation(AO)of an inverse video presentation of another person’s hand(AO+MI(other hand)),and MI with AO of an inverse video presentation of a participant’s own hand(AO+MI(own hand)).Participants included 66 healthy right-handed adults(41 men and 25 women;mean age:26.3±4.3 years).There were 23 patients in the MI-only group(mean age:26.4±4.1 years),20 in the AO+MI(other hand)group(mean age:25.9±5.0 years),and 23 in the AO+MI(own hand)group(mean age:26.9±4.1 years).The MI task involved transferring 1 cm×1 cm blocks from one plate to another,once per second,using chopsticks held in the non-dominant hand.Based on a visual analog scale(VAS),MI vividness was significantly higher in the AO+MI(own hand)group than in the MI-only group and the AO+MI(other hand)group.A main effect of condition was revealed in terms of MI vividness,as well as regions of interest(ROIs)in certain brain areas associated with motor processing.The data suggest that inverse video presentation of a person’s own hand enhances the MI vividness and increases the activity of motor-related cortical areas during MI.This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences(approval No.18121303)on January 18,2019.
文摘This article explains an imagery assisted virtual reality psychological skills training program used with a NCAA Division I baseball team. This is the first time that imagery has been incorporated into a virtual reality program with the goal of increasing mental skills and strategies. Participants for this study were 27 NCAA baseball players. Each participant completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire and the Test of Performance Strategies Questionnaire at baseline and again after the winter season （2 months later）. Results indicated an increase in skill, goals and mastery imagery ability as well as increases in the use of several skills and strategies in both practice and competition. This manuscript focuses on both the development of an Imagery Assisted Virtual Reality program as well as the outcomes of the program.
文摘Application of continuous repetition of motor imagery can improve the performance of exercise tasks.However,there is a lack of more detailed neurophysiological evidence to support the formulation of clear standards for interventions using motor imagery.Moreover,identification of motor imagery intervention time is necessary because it exhibits possible central fatigue.Therefore,the purpose of this study was to elucidate the development of fatigue during continuous repetition of motor imagery through objective and subjective evaluation.The study involved two experiments.In experiment 1,14 healthy young volunteers were required to imagine grasping and lifting a 1.5-L plastic bottle using the whole hand.Each participant performed the motor imagery task 100 times under each condition with 48 hours interval between two conditions:500 mL or 1500 mL of water in the bottle during the demonstration phase.Mental fatigue and a decrease in pinch power appeared under the 1500-mL condition.There were changes in concentration ability or corticospinal excitability,as assessed by motor evoked potentials,between each set with continuous repetition of motor imagery also under the 1500-mL condition.Therefore,in experiment 2,12 healthy volunteers were required to perform the motor imagery task 200 times under the 1500-mL condition.Both concentration ability and corticospinal excitability decreased.This is the first study to show that continuous repetition of motor imagery can decrease corticospinal excitability in addition to producing mental fatigue.This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee at the Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences(approval No.18121302)on January 30,2019.
