Abstract
AbstractMotor imagery has long been characterised as the internal experience of the silent unfolding of motor processes, known as the Functional Equivalence view. We argue that a stronger account of motor imagery incorporates how it differs from physical action, as encapsulated in the Motor-Cognitive model. The Motor-Cognitive model argues that in lieu of online control, motor imagery is elaborated using cognitive processes relying on executive resources. We tested the Motor-Cognitive and Functional Equivalence models in experiments that manipulated the quality of information available during movement through 1) removing vision; 2) restricting vision to the periphery; or 3) miming the movement. All three experiments found strong evidence in favour of the Motor-Cognitive model and against the Functional Equivalence view. We discuss these results in the broader context of the processes involved in mental imagery.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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