Sensory features of mental images in the framework of human actions

•90 participants freely imagined a large set of human actions.•The sensory impression of imagined actions depend on specific action demands.•Specific motor experience is a strong predictor for sensory impression.•A motor image has its roots in the imager’s individual motor memory. What determines th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Consciousness and cognition 2020-08, Vol.83, p.102970-102970, Article 102970
Main Authors: Krüger, Britta, Zabicki, Adam, Grosse, Lars, Naumann, Tim, Munzert, Jörn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Kinesthetic imagery
Mental imagery
Mental task performance
Motor experience
Motor imagery
Sensorimotor system
Visual imagery
Vividness
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Summary:•90 participants freely imagined a large set of human actions.•The sensory impression of imagined actions depend on specific action demands.•Specific motor experience is a strong predictor for sensory impression.•A motor image has its roots in the imager’s individual motor memory. What determines the sensory impression of a self-generated motor image? Motor imagery is a process in which subjects imagine executing a body movement with a strong kinesthetic and/or visual component from a first-person perspective. Both sensory modalities can be combined flexibly to form a motor image. 90 participants of varying ages had to freely generate motor images from a large set of movements. They were asked to rate their kinesthetic as well as their visual impression, the perceived vividness, and their personal experience with the imagined movement. Data were subjected to correlational analyses, linear regressions, and representation similarity analyses. Results showed that both action characteristics and experience drove the sensory impression of motor images with a strong individual component. We conclude that imagining actions that impose varying demands can be considered as reexperiencing actions by using one’s own sensorimotor representations that represent not only individual experience but also action demands.
ISSN:1053-8100
1090-2376
DOI:10.1016/j.concog.2020.102970