ArticleExperimental brain research2020
Executive functions in motor imagery: support for the motor-cognitive model over the functional equivalence model.
Article in Experimental brain research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Combined action observation and motor imagery practice for upper limb recovery following stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Increases Posterior Theta Rhythm and Reduces Latency of Motor Imagery.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Trial
- Interactive Course Design and Development for Cognitively Inspired Distance International Chinese Education.Computational intelligence and neuroscience · 2022Trial
- Location-Specific Disruption of the Body Schema in Chronic Low Back Pain.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2026Article
- Imagery use and vividness as predictors of cognitive function in collegiate athletes.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Effects of imagery training on cognitive function among collegiate athletes: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in cognition · 2026Article
- Examination of Motor Imagery Ability in Individuals With Diplegic Cerebral Palsy: Case-Control Study.Revista de neurologia · 2025Article
- Anodal tDCS over the supplementary motor area increases motor overflow during imagined aiming movement.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Motor imagery enhances performance beyond the imagined action.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Speed-accuracy trade-offs in action perception, motor imagery, and execution of hand movements in autistic and non-autistic adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Stimulus specificity in combined action observation and motor imagery of typing.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) · 2025Article
- Trajectory priming through obstacle avoidance in motor imagery - does motor imagery comprise the spatial characteristics of movement?Experimental brain research · 2024Article
- Enhancing motor imagery practice using synchronous action observation.Psychological research · 2024Review
- Learning motor actions via imagery-perceptual or motor learning?Psychological research · 2024Review
- A theoretical perspective on action consequences in action imagery: internal prediction as an essential mechanism to detect errors.Psychological research · 2024Review
- The Role of Interoceptive Sensitivity and Hypnotizability in Motor Imagery.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Inequivalent and uncorrelated response priming in motor imagery and execution.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Brain Activation Evoked by Motor Imagery in Pediatric Patients with Complete Spinal Cord Injury.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2023Article
- A neural signature for combined action observation and motor imagery? An fNIRS study into prefrontal activation, automatic imitation, and self-other perceptions.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Effect of the Menstrual Cycle on Electroencephalogram Alpha and Beta Bands During Motor Imagery and Action Observation.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The motor-cognitive model holds that motor imagery relies on executive resources to a much greater extent than do overt actions. According to this view, engaging executive resources with an interference task during motor imagery or overt actions will lead to a greater lengthening of the time required to imagine a movement than to execute it physically. This model is in contrast to a currently popular view, the functional equivalence model, which holds that motor imagery and overt action use identical mental processes, and thus should be equally affected by task manipulations. The two competing frameworks were tested in three experiments that varied the amount and type of executive resources needed to perform an interference task concurrent with either an overt or imagined version of a grasping and placing action. In Experiment 1, performing a concurrent calculation task led to a greater lengthening of the time required to execute motor imagery than overt action relative to a control condition involving no interference task. Further, an increase in the number of responses used to index performance affected the timing of motor imagery but not overt actions. In Experiment 2, a low-load repetition task interfered with the timing of motor imagery, but less so than a high load calculation task; both tasks had much smaller effects on overt actions. In Experiment 3, a word generation task also interfered with motor imagery much more than with overt actions. The results of these experiments provide broad support for the motor-cognitive model over the functional equivalence model in showing that interfering with executive functions had a much greater impact on the timing of motor imagery than on overt actions. The possible roles of different executive processes in motor imagery are discussed.
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