Imaging the imagination: the trouble with motor imagery

Area of Science:

• Sports and exercise psychology
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive science

Background:

• Modern neuroscience tools like MRI and PET are valuable for studying cognitive functions.
• These imaging techniques typically require participants to remain still, posing a challenge for sports science research, which focuses on motion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the popular method of using motor imagery as a proxy for actual motor performance in sports psychology.
• To challenge the validity of applying neuroimaging findings from imagined movements to real-world athletic performance.

Main Methods:

• Critical analysis of existing neuroimaging studies on motor imagery and actual movement.
• Examination of the logical and evidential basis for using motor imagery in sports science.

Main Results:

• The conclusion that motor imagery can substitute for real motor performance in neuroimaging studies is based on selective reporting and overgeneralization.
• This approach is fundamentally flawed and misrepresents the capabilities of current neuroimaging techniques for sports science.

Conclusions:

• The reliance on motor imagery as a proxy for physical activity in sports psychology research is scientifically unsound.
• This flawed methodology leads to misguided research directions and wishful thinking within the field.