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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
Published on: January 1, 2014
Imagined movements that leak out
1Department of Psychology, University of California, 95064, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Abstract:
In a case study that fundamentally alters our understanding of motor imagery, Schwoebel et al. report a patient who unintentionally carries out imagined movements. Furthermore, his 'imagery' movements are more accurate than his intended movements, which suggests that the inhibitory signal that normally prevents us from acting out our motor imagery can be selectively blocked. Removing this inhibition allows us to observe motor imagery 'in action', and reveals that motor imagery and motor planning for execution are not identical.
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