About this Research Topic
Over the past 20 years, there has been a significant shift in our understanding of the motor system. It is no longer viewed as a mere executor of motor actions, but rather as a system also engaged during action observation and recognition, imagination, and even verbal descriptions of actions. It is currently unclear to what extent the neural structures involved in these functions overlap with each other or are distinctively and differently active across functions.
We will use the term action re-enactment to refer to the recruitment of neural structures that are involved in action execution, in the absence of physical execution itself. Within this theoretical framework, there is increasing interest in the role of cognitive strategies that exploit action re-enactment, like motor imagery and action observation, in motor learning and rehabilitation. By observation, imitation, and imagery of movements, we can acquire new motor skills and refine our motor abilities, possibly via the re-organization of already acquired and well-established motor competence. Hence the potential role of these cognitive strategies in sports training and educational activities, for example learning a musical instrument. These cognitive strategies are also useful in the case of neurological and non-neurological diseases when patients must recover their affected motor skills. Action observation treatment and motor imagery have proven to be effective for motor rehabilitation of patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, and patients with orthopedic diseases.
This Research Topic aims to offer a “state of the art” overview of the recent advancements in cognitive strategies that involve action re-enactment. We will collect papers focusing on the neurophysiological and anatomical bases of motor imagery and action observation/recognition as well as their use in learning /re-learning (as in the case of rehabilitation) motor skills in social contexts as well as in clinical practice. Moreover, papers assessing the effectiveness of these cognitive strategies when combined or associated with other approaches like virtual reality and the use of wearable devices, along with studies on the use of these cognitive strategies in home-based training will be of interest. We will include articles exploiting neurophysiological, brain imaging, and behavioral techniques.
Considering the relevance and huge potential application of cognitive strategies in different contexts, we hope this Research Topic will meet the interest of different researchers including psychologists, neuroscientists, sports scientists, neurologists, physiatrists, and physiotherapists.
We will use the term action re-enactment to refer to the recruitment of neural structures that are involved in action execution, in the absence of physical execution itself. Within this theoretical framework, there is increasing interest in the role of cognitive strategies that exploit action re-enactment, like motor imagery and action observation, in motor learning and rehabilitation. By observation, imitation, and imagery of movements, we can acquire new motor skills and refine our motor abilities, possibly via the re-organization of already acquired and well-established motor competence. Hence the potential role of these cognitive strategies in sports training and educational activities, for example learning a musical instrument. These cognitive strategies are also useful in the case of neurological and non-neurological diseases when patients must recover their affected motor skills. Action observation treatment and motor imagery have proven to be effective for motor rehabilitation of patients with stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, and patients with orthopedic diseases.
This Research Topic aims to offer a “state of the art” overview of the recent advancements in cognitive strategies that involve action re-enactment. We will collect papers focusing on the neurophysiological and anatomical bases of motor imagery and action observation/recognition as well as their use in learning /re-learning (as in the case of rehabilitation) motor skills in social contexts as well as in clinical practice. Moreover, papers assessing the effectiveness of these cognitive strategies when combined or associated with other approaches like virtual reality and the use of wearable devices, along with studies on the use of these cognitive strategies in home-based training will be of interest. We will include articles exploiting neurophysiological, brain imaging, and behavioral techniques.
Considering the relevance and huge potential application of cognitive strategies in different contexts, we hope this Research Topic will meet the interest of different researchers including psychologists, neuroscientists, sports scientists, neurologists, physiatrists, and physiotherapists.
Keywords: action observation, motor imagery, motor learning, Rehabilitation; action re-enactment
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
