Mental Imagery

[Jamie the Wise]

Hi

I received the following email today from some guy at uni. I am enthralled as to what the results might mean...but surely a basis for some cool ideas. Just stare at muscle all day long, and it grows...

thought everyone here would appreciate it :-)

Jamie


'Circular email for use for recruitment of volunteers for study ref
04/05-107, approved by the College Research Ethics Committee.
This project contributes to the College's role in conducting research, and
teaching research methods. You are under no obligation to reply to this
email, however if you choose to, participation in this research is voluntary
and you may withdraw at anytime.'
Thank you for reading this.

An investigation of the effect of mental imagery on quadriceps muscle
function.

Did you know that you can increase your strength just by thinking about it?

We are interested in investigating whether a brief programme of mental
imagery training (thinking about or imagining performing an exercise) can
improve the strength of the muscles used in imagery training. We are also
interested in how the preferred method of mental imagery for exercises may
affect the amount of strength improvement in the trained muscle.

What is involved?
The study will involve 2 visits, approximately 1 week apart, to room 3.9
Shepherd's House, Guy's Campus, King's College London. These visits will
last approximately 1 hour and will involve testing of the quadriceps muscles
(the leg muscles responsible for straightening the knee) prior to and after
completion of a 1 week training period. During this training period you may
be asked to undertake 20 minutes of mental imagery training of the
quadriceps muscles over 3 days. We will measure the strength of your
quadriceps muscles and using electrical impulses to stimulate the muscles,
the extent to which you can fully activate them.

You will be randomly assigned to either a control or a training group and
you will be taught the appropriate exercises to carry out at home.
Exercises are to be carried out on one leg only and you will be asked to
complete a simple record of your training. In addition, on your second visit
you will be asked to complete a simple questionnaire regarding the ease with
which you are able to imagine muscle contractions.

Who can take part?
Pregnant women should not take part in this study.
To be suitable to be included you must: be between 18 - 65, have no previous
injury or disease of either leg in the past 2 years, have no metal implants
in the legs, not be currently involved in leg muscle strength training, and
be able to understand and perform the tests.

[CelticMuscle]

and reply saying that you are unable to help personally, but would like to recieve the results when they are published