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Mental practice of action

Mental practice refers to use of visuo-motor imagery with the purpose of improving motor behavior. Visuo-motor imagery requires the use of one’s imagination to simulate an action, without physical movement. It has come to the fore due to the relevance of imagery in enhancing sports and surgical performance.

Sports

Mental practice, when combined with physical practice, can be beneficial to beginners learning a sport, but even more helpful to professionals looking to enhance their skills. Physical practice generates the physical feedback necessary to improve, while mental practice creates a cognitive process physical practice cannot easily replicate.

Medicine

When surgeons and other medical practitioners mentally rehearse procedures along with their physical practice, it is produces the same results as physical rehearsal, but costs much less. But unlike its use in sports, to improve a skill, mental practice is used in medicine as a form of stress reduction before operations.

Music

When it comes to music, a combination of physical and mental practice has been shown to cause improvement equal to physical practice alone. This is because mental practice causes neuron growth that mirrors growth caused by physical practice. And there is precedent: Vladimir Horowitz and Arthur Rubinstein, among others, supplemented their physical practice with mental rehearsal.