title: Organizing motor imageries.
abstract: Over the last few decades, motor imagery has attracted the attention of researchers as a prototypical example of 'embodied cognition' and also as a basis for neuro-rehabilitation and brain-machine interfaces. The current definition of motor imagery is widely accepted, but it is important to note that various abilities rather than a single cognitive entity are dealt with under a single term. Here, motor imagery has been characterized based on four factors: (1) motor control, (2) explicitness, (3) sensory modalities, and (4) agency. Sorting out these factors characterizing motor imagery may explain some discrepancies and variability in the findings from previous studies and will help to optimize a study design in accordance with the purpose of each study in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Neuroimaging, Integrative Brain Imaging Center, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan. Electronic address: hanakawa@ncnp.go.jp.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanakawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Brain machine interface; Embodiment; Imagination; Movement; Neurorehabilitation; Simulation