The Effects of Sporting and Physical Practice on Visual and Kinesthetic Motor Imagery Vividness: A Comparative Study Between Athletic, Physically Active, and Exempted Adolescents

The interest of motor imagery practice on performance and motor learning is well-established. However, the impact of sporting and physical practice on motor imagery vividness is currently unclear, especially in youth. Two-hundred-and-forty adolescents were recruited to form different groups. For each age group (age-group 1, A-G1 with 13years≤age≤14years 6months vs. age-group 2, A-G2 with 14years 6months<age≤16years), 40 athletes, 40 active adolescents, and 40 exempted were recruited (20 girls and 20 boys in each category). Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second version (MIQ-Rs) was used to assess the Visual Motor Imagery (VMI) and Kinesthetic Motor Imagery (KMI) vividness. Results show that VMI is more evoked and more vivid than KMI (p<0.001). Athletes had greater VMI and KMI than active and exempted groups (p<0.001), and the active group also performed higher VMI and KMI than the exempted group (p<0.001). Subjects from A-G2 had greater motor imagery than subjects from A-G1, and boys had better motor imagery than girls. Conclusion: the present results show that sport and physical education engagement is associated with enhanced motor imagery vividness, especially in VMI. Moreover, older adolescents evoke clearer images than younger adolescents, and boys have greater imagery ability than girls. Therefore, teachers and coaches should consider age and gender when developing this cognitive skill when learning, in physical education classes and sports clubs.

Dirt(y) media: Dirt in ecological media art practices

While we may imagine that the unblemished surfaces of our shiny devices are free from the grime of the everyday – flawless and pure – we do not have to dig far below the surface to find that these technologies are anything but untainted and dirt-free. This realisation is at the heart of a shift in international media art towards materials based media. While there have been numerous books and papers describing a materials based media within the notion of ‘media ecologies’, there is more to be learnt from media art, an area that both critiques media and information, and which develops practices that engage in issues around the materiality of media technologies. This article will specifically address dirt through media ecologies by investigating how media artists have made their work literally dirty. The first section of the article critically addresses the notion of media as being material, as opposed to the imagined as pristine, pure and immaterial, and being so, is able to become dirty. The second section looks to a pre-history of dirt(y) media found in the work of artists Milan Knížák and Christian Marclay. The remainder of the article discusses a shift in the approach to contemporary media art that turns away from the digital studio towards a resolutely analogue and physical practice.

Comparison Between the Effectiveness of Mental Practice and Physical Practice using Cup Stacking on Hand Function in the Elderly

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of mental vs. physical cup stacking practice in healthy people aged over 65 years.Material and Methods: Healthy elderly, who met the inclusion criteria, were randomized into 2 groups—physical practice and mental practice. Both groups received cup stacking training according to the specific condition of the group. This study collected data on the immediate effects of the training using the Jebsen Hand Function Test (JHFT) for both hands, the dominant and the non-dominant ones. The movement time during cup stacking and reaction time were measured. The paired t-test and the independent t-test were selected to analyze the differences within and between groups, respectively.Results: There were 39 participants in each group. It was found that the movement time related to stacking cups and the JHFT movement time of the non-dominant hand was significantly lower in the physical practice group compared with the mental practice group. Besides, after training, the movement time for stacking cups and the JHFT movement time of both hands was significantly lower in both groups. However, a statistically nonsignificant result for reaction time was found in the mental practice group after training.Conclusion: This study shows that both mental and physical training can enhance the ability to learn hand movement in the elderly. In further studies, the inclusion of the retention of training effects after practice, a different training approach, and a feedback method should be considered.

Comparison of ‘Mental training’ and physical practice in the mediation of a structured facial examination: a quasi randomized, blinded and controlled study

Background The correct performance of a structured facial examination presents a fundamental clinical skill to detect facial pathologies. However, many students are not adequately prepared in this basic clinical skill. Many argue that the traditional ‘See One, Do One’ approach is not sufficient to fully master a clinical skill. ‘Mental Training’ has successfully been used to train psychomotor and technical skills in sports and other surgical fields, but its use in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is not described. We conducted a quasi-experimental to determine if ‘Mental Training’ was effective in teaching a structured facial examination. Methods Sixty-seven students were randomly assigned to a ‘Mental Training’ and ‘See One, Do One’ group. Both groups received standardized video instruction on how to perform a structured facial examination. The ‘See One, Do One’ group then received 60 min of guided physical practice while the ‘Mental Training’ group actively developed a detailed, stepwise sequence of the performance of a structured facial examination and visualized this sequence subvocally before practicing the skill. Student performance was measured shortly after (T1) and five to 10 weeks (T2) after the training by two blinded examiners (E1 and E2) using a validated checklist. Results Groups did not differ in gender, age or in experience. The ‘Mental Training’ group averaged significantly more points in T1 (pE1 = 0.00012; pE2 = 0.004; dE1 = 0.86; dE2 = 0.66) and T2 (pE1 = 0.04; pE2 = 0.008, dE1 = 0.37; dE2 = 0.64) than the ‘See One, Do One’ group. The intragroup comparison showed a significant (pE1 = 0.0002; pE2 = 0.06, dE1 = 1.07; dE2 = 0.50) increase in clinical examination skills in the ‘See One, Do One’ group, while the ‘Mental Training’ group maintained an already high level of clinical examination skills between T1 and T2. Discussion ‘Mental Training’ is an efficient tool to teach and maintain basic clinical skills. In this study ‘Mental Training’ was shown to be superior to the commonly used ‘See One, Do One’ approach in learning how to perform a structured facial examination and should therefore be considered more often to teach physical examination skills.

Running in light of the ideas of Olympism of Pierre de Coubertin

The subject of this research is the sociocultural conditionality of running. The relevance of this work consists in non-inclusion into the philosophical context, which implies reference to the universal and the basic fundamental, running as the most universal cultural form of locomotion of an athlete, as well as the absence of definition of its humanistic importance in both, individual and collective existence. The author sets the three tasks: reveal the foundations of the concept of Olympism of Pierre de Coubertin; determine the content of the values of Olympism interpreted as the key ideas oriented towards implementation in life of a person and society through the Olympic sports; advance the hypothesis of running as the basic physical practice for sports, which essentially implies the transcendent dimension that correlates with the ideological components of Olympism. The novelty of this article lies in the analysis of running through the prism of ideological foundations of Olympism. Being inherent to the universal for sports running practices, these foundations make running, viewed as a component of social environment, a means of preservation and distribution the Coubertin’s ideology of formation of an athlete as a harmonious, spiritually and physically developed personality through the educational sports. Considering the fact that the socially conditioned running motor action contributes to the formation of the structures of human consciousness, the mental world of the subject, formed with involvement of the Olympic oriented running practices, is largely characterized by the values promoted by Pierre de Coubertin.

A Video Self-Modelling Intervention Using Virtual Reality Plus Physical Practice For Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Despite optimal medical and/or surgical intervention, freezing of gait occurs commonly in people with Parkinson’s disease, leading to reduced mobility, falls, poor quality of life and increased healthcare costs. Action observation via video self-modelling, combined with physical practice, has potential as a non-invasive intervention to reduce freezing of gait. OBJECTIVE To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a home-based, personalised video self-modelling intervention delivered via a virtual reality head mounted display to reduce freezing of gait in people with Parkinson’s disease. Secondary aims included investigating the potential effect of this intervention on freezing of gait, mobility and anxiety. METHODS A single group pre/post mixed methods pilot trial. Ten participants with Parkinson’s disease and freezing of gait were recruited. A physiotherapist assessed participants in their homes to identify person-specific triggers of freezing and developed individualised movement strategies to overcome freezing of gait. 180-degree videos of participants successfully performing their movement strategies were created. Participants watched their videos using a virtual reality head mounted display, followed by physical practice of their strategies in their own homes over a six-week intervention period. Primary outcome measures included feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Secondary outcome measures included freezing of gait physical tests and questionnaires, Timed Up and Go test, 10m walk test, Goal Attainment Scale, and Parkinson Anxiety Scale. RESULTS Ten participants were recruited. The recruitment rate was 24% and retention rate was 90%. Adherence to the intervention was high, with participants completing a mean of 84% for the prescribed video viewing and a mean of 100% for the prescribed physical practice. One participant used the virtual reality head mounted display for one week and completed the rest of the intervention using a flatscreen device due to a gradual worsening of his motion sickness. No other adverse events occurred during the intervention or assessments. Most participants found using the head mounted display to view their videos interesting and enjoyable and would choose to use this intervention to manage their freezing of gait in the future. Five themes were constructed from interview data: reflections when seeing myself; my experience of using the virtual reality system; the role of the virtual reality system in supporting my learning; developing a deeper understanding on how to manage my freezing of gait; and impact of the intervention on my daily activities. Overall, there were minimal changes to the freezing of gait, mobility or anxiety measures from baseline to post-intervention, although there was substantial variability between participants. The intervention showed potential in reducing anxiety in participants with high levels of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS Video self-modelling using an immersive virtual reality head mounted display plus physical practice of personalised movement strategies is a feasible and acceptable method of addressing freezing of gait in people with Parkinson’s disease. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR12619000139178)

Combining Observation and Physical Practice: Benefits of an Interleaved Schedule for Visuomotor Adaptation and Motor Memory Consolidation

Visuomotor adaptation to novel environments can occur via non-physical means, such as observation. Observation does not appear to activate the same implicit learning processes as physical practice, rather it appears to be more strategic in nature. However, there is evidence that interspersing observational practice with physical practice can benefit performance and memory consolidation either through the combined benefits of separate processes or through a change in processes activated during observation trials. To test these ideas, we asked people to practice aiming to targets with visually rotated cursor feedback or engage in a combined practice schedule comprising physical practice and observation of projected videos showing successful aiming. Ninety-three participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups: massed physical practice (Act), distributed physical practice (Act+Rest), or one of 3 types of combined practice: alternating blocks (Obs_During), or all observation before (Obs_Pre) or after (Obs_Post) blocked physical practice. Participants received 100 practice trials (all or half were physical practice). All groups improved in adaptation trials and showed savings across the 24-h retention interval relative to initial practice. There was some forgetting for all groups, but the magnitudes were larger for physical practice groups. The Act and Obs_During groups were most accurate in retention and did not differ, suggesting that observation can serve as a replacement for physical practice if supplied intermittently and offers advantages above just resting. However, after-effects associated with combined practice were smaller than those for physical practice control groups, suggesting that beneficial learning effects as a result of observation were not due to activation of implicit learning processes. Reaction time, variable error, and post-test rotation drawings supported this conclusion that adaptation for observation groups was promoted by explicit/strategic processes.

Comparison of ‘Mental training’ and physical practice in the mediation of a structured facial examination: A quasi randomized, blinded and controlled study

Background: The correct performance of a structured facial examination presents a fundamental clinical skill to detect facial pathologies. However, many students are not adequately prepared in this basic clinical skill. Many argue that the traditional ‘See One, Do One’ approach is not sufficient to fully master a clinical skill. ‘Mental Training’ has successfully been used to train psychomotor and technical skills in sports and other surgical fields, but its use in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery is not described. We conducted a quasi-experimental to determine if ‘Mental Training’ was effective in teaching a structured facial examination. Methods: 67 students were randomly assigned to a ‘Mental Training’ and ‘See One, Do One’ group. Both groups received standardized video instruction on how to perform a structured facial examination. The ‘See One, Do One’ group then received 60 minutes of guided physical practice while the ‘Mental Training’ group actively developed a detailed, stepwise sequence of the performance of a structured facial examination and visualized this sequence subvocally before practicing the skill. Student performance was measured shortly after (T1) and five to ten weeks (T2) after the training by two blinded examiners (E1 and E2) using a validated checklist. Results: Groups did not differ in gender, age or in experience. The ‘Mental Training’ group averaged significantly more points in T1 (pE1 = 0.00012; pE2 = 0.004; dE1 = 0.86; dE2 = 0.66) and T2 (pE1 = 0.04; pE2 = 0.008, dE1 = 0.37; dE2 = 0.64) than the ‘See One, Do One’ group. The intragroup comparison showed a significant (pE1 = 0.0002; pE2 = 0.06, dE1 = 1.07; dE2 = 0.50) increase in clinical examination skills in the ‘See One, Do One’ group, while the ‘Mental Training’ group maintained an already high level of clinical examination skills between T1 and T2.Discussion: ‘Mental Training’ is an efficient tool to teach and maintain basic clinical skills. In this study ‘Mental Training’ was shown to be superior to the commonly used ‘See One, Do One’ approach in learning how to perform a structured facial examination and should therefore be considered more often to teach physical examination skills.