Position Data
All participants completed the experiment. One data set has been removed from the analysis because the participant rotated their head only by about 1.3° (SD = 1.85°) across all trials during retrieval, which indicates that the participant did not perform the task as instructed.
The positioning error of the head movement to the required target, i.e. median of absolute error, was 1.95° (range: 1.21° - 9.86°) over all participants and conditions. Absolute errors were smallest in the active condition (median: 1.83°, range: 0.75° - 9.65°) and largest for the passive condition (median: 2.34°, range: 1.18° - 9.82°). The absolute median error for the imagery condition was 1.87° (range: 1.23° - 10.14°) and therefore close to the absolute error in the active condition (Fig. 2). In the Bayesian regression model, the active condition was the intercept (βintercept = 0.42, 95% CI [0.14, 0.71]). Compared to this intercept, the imagery condition did not change the performance in the task (βimagery condition = 0.00, 95% CI [-0.05, 0.06]). However, the passive condition (βpassive condition = 0.26, 95% CI [0.20, 0.31]) led to worse performance than both the active and the imagery condition. Estimates are reported on the log-scale. Therefore, estimates for imagery and passive condition indicate percentage of change in task performance with respect to the active condition.
The Bayesian R2 value, 0.36, 95% CI [0.32, 0.39], suggests that the model accounted for approximately 36% of the variance in the data. Overall, we found better performance in the active and imagery condition when compared to the passive condition, indicating a beneficial effect of motor imagery on performance in the spatial memory task. This effect is illustrated in Fig. 2. Self-rated vividness did not show meaningful influence on absolute errors in the imagery condition. Data of one additional participant had to be excluded from this analysis because of missing values.
To further investigate the effect of the condition on errors, we compared the raw error patterns in all conditions and target angles. In the active condition all target angles were overestimated (participants turned their heads too far). In the passive condition target angles between 3° and 12° were overestimated and angles larger than 18° were systematically underestimated. A similar pattern was found in the imagery condition. However, the transition between over- and underestimation occurred between 9° and 12°. Upon visual inspection, most of the participants showed an error pattern comparable to the pattern reported above with overestimation in the active condition and reversing errors in the passive and imagery conditions.
In the Bayesian regression model, the active condition was the intercept (βintercept = 1.79, 95% CI [1.44, 2.14]), showing an overestimation in the active condition. As in the model with absolute errors, the imagery condition overall led to comparable errors (βimagery condition = 0.03, 95% CI [-0.29, 0.35]), but passive condition (βpassive condition = 1.31, 95% CI [1.00, 1.61]) overall led to smaller errors compared to the intercept. Errors did not vary with respect to target angles (βtarget angle = -0.02, 95% CI [-0.06, 0.00]), reflecting a constant overestimation in the active condition. However, an interaction of target angle with the imagery condition (βimagery condition * target angle = -0.13, 95% CI [-0.16, -0.10]), and to a larger extent with the passive condition (βpassive condition * target angle = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.63, -0.46]) was found, showing that in smaller target angles errors were due to overestimation but changed to underestimation errors with increasing angles. Estimates are reported in degrees. The Bayesian R2 value, 0.46, 95% CI [0.44, 0.47], suggests that the model accounted for approximately 46% of the variance in the data.
Motion profiles
We also analyzed the kinematics of the active head rotation during the retrieval. The grand averages across all participants for each condition and target angle are visualized in Fig. 3. We found that the head rotations showed a reliable sinusoidal shaped acceleration pattern similar to the passive stimuli used in most perception studies. In all conditions, the peak velocity increased for larger target angles. An interesting pattern was observed for the passive, compared to the active and imagery condition. The peak velocities showed a reduced range with larger peak velocities for small angles but smaller peak velocities for large target angles (Table 1 & Fig. 3, panel g & h). In the Bayesian model with active condition as intercept (βintercept = 9.64, 95% CI [8.43, 10.80]), this is reflected in a larger velocity of the passive condition in the smallest target angle (βpassive condition = 6.08, 95% CI [5.27, 6.92]) but no difference in the imagery condition (βimagery condition = 0.59, 95% CI [-0.19, 1.36]). Additionally, an interaction of target angle with the passive condition (βpassive condition * target angle = -0.55, 95% CI [-0.63, -0.46]), and to a smaller extent with the imagery condition (βimagery condition * target angle = -0.20, 95% CI [-0.27, -0.13]) was found, showing less spread in these conditions, much stronger pronounced in the passive condition. Overall peak velocity increased with larger target angles (βtarget angle = 1.07, 95% CI [0.96, 1.18]). The Bayesian R2 value, 0.67, 95% CI [0.67, 0.68], suggests that the model accounted for approximately 67% of the variance in the data.
Table 1
Median peak velocities of the head rotation during the retrieval per target angles and condition. The spread of head velocity among the different target angles is calculated by subtracting the minimal from the maximal peak velocity.
|
3°
|
6°
|
9°
|
12°
|
15°
|
18°
|
21°
|
spread
|
active
|
7.2
|
10.7
|
12.8
|
15.3
|
18.2
|
19.9
|
20.8
|
13.6
|
passive
|
10.9
|
12.0
|
14.1
|
15.1
|
15.8
|
16.3
|
16.7
|
5.8
|
imagery
|
7.3
|
10.9
|
12.6
|
14.1
|
15.9
|
15.0
|
19.5
|
12.2
|