UFR des Sciences du Sport, INSERM UMR1093, UFR STAPS, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 21000, Dijon, France.
Exp Brain Res. 2019 Jun;237(6):1375-1382. doi: 10.1007/s00221-019-05514-1. Epub 2019 Mar 15.
With physiological aging, appears a deterioration of the ability to retain motor skills newly acquired. In this study, we tested the beneficial role of motor imagery training to compensate this deterioration. We tested four groups: young control group (n = 10), elderly control group (n = 10), young mental-training group (n = 13) and elderly mental-training group (n = 13). In pre- and post-tests, the participants performed three trials on a dexterity manual task (the Nine Hole Peg Test), commonly used in clinic. We recorded the movement duration as a factor of performance. Each trial, including 36 arm movements, consisted in manipulating sticks as fast as possible. The control groups watched a non-emotional documentary for 30 min and the mental-training groups imagined the task (50 trials). First, we observed a speed improvement during the pre-test session for all groups. Immediately after viewing the movie (post-test 1), the young control group showed a preservation of motor performance in comparison to the performance measured before the break (pret-test 3), while the young mental-training group improved performance after motor imagery practice. For the elderly, the control group showed a deterioration of motor performance at post-test 1, attesting a deterioration of the ability to retain motor skills with aging. Interestingly, the elderly mental-training group showed a preservation of motor performance between the pre-test 3 and the post-test 1. The present findings demonstrate the beneficial role of mental training with motor imagery to retain the performance improvement following physical practice in the elderly. This method could be an alternative to prevent the deterioration of motor skills.
随着生理衰老，新获得的运动技能的保持能力会出现恶化。在这项研究中，我们测试了运动意象训练对补偿这种恶化的有益作用。我们测试了四个组：年轻对照组（n=10）、老年对照组（n=10）、年轻心理训练组（n=13）和老年心理训练组（n=13）。在预测试和后测试中，参与者在一项灵巧手动任务（九孔钉测试）上进行了三次试验，该任务常用于临床。我们记录运动时间作为表现的一个因素。每个试验包括 36 次手臂运动，目的是尽可能快地操纵棒。对照组观看了 30 分钟的非情感纪录片，而心理训练组则想象了这项任务（50 次试验）。首先，我们观察到所有组在预测试阶段的速度都有所提高。观看电影后立即（后测 1），年轻对照组的运动表现与休息前（预测 3）相比保持不变，而年轻心理训练组在进行运动意象练习后提高了运动表现。对于老年人，对照组在后测 1 时表现出运动表现的恶化，这表明随着年龄的增长，保持运动技能的能力恶化。有趣的是，老年心理训练组在预测试 3 和后测试 1 之间表现出运动表现的保持。本研究结果表明，运动意象心理训练对保持老年人在进行物理实践后的表现提高具有有益作用。这种方法可能是预防运动技能恶化的替代方法。
