CGSC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Motor Imagery, Mind-Wandering, Motor Cortex

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Cognitive Science
• Course: CGSC 1001
• Professor: Jim Davies

Document Summary

Sensory imagination: the capacity to have perception-like experiences in the absence of relevant external stimuli. Sensory imagination depends on internal inputs to sensory systems: mind-wandering/daydreaming, motor imagery, aphantasia. Some evidence that mind wandering is related to working memory (form of short-term memory: tasks that place a burden on working memory consistently lead to decreases in mind wandering. Levinson et al. (2012): mind wandering is correlated with greater working memory capacity: mind wandering may rely on working memory. Motor imagery: proprioception -> where are bodily limbs are, motor imagery -> similar, motor imagery recruits many of the same brain areas as actually executing an action (grodd, Motor imagery - conclusion: mental practice is a supplement to motor learning, not a replacement, 20 minutes is the optimal amount of time for a mental practice session -> if you go longer than that performance drops off.