Investigation of the relationship between motor imaginary ability and dual-task ability in chronic stroke patients

Objective: Motor imagery ability increases motor performance by increasing neural activity and stimulating brain plasticity. The dualtask can be an indicator of the transfer of motor performance. This study investigated the relationship between imagery ability and dual-task ability in chronic stroke patients. Patients and Methods: The Motor Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second Edition was used to assess imagery ability. The Timed Up and Go test was determined as the main task, and a dual-task test was performed by adding a cognitive and motor task. Mental chronometry recorded single – and dual-task performances as actual and imagined. Dual-task cost and delta scores were calculated for motor-motor and cognitive-motor separately. Results: There was a moderate correlation between motor imagery ability and motor dual-task performance (p<0.05). No correlation was found between cognitive dual-task performance and motor imagery ability (p>0.05). The individuals’ motor-motor tasks had low performance in the actual and imagined tasks but not in the cognitive-motor tasks (p>0.05). Conclusion: As mental practice increases, patients’ motor-motor dual-task abilities also increase. Mental practice can be recommended from the early stages of stroke patients to increase motor imagery ability and motor skills. Cognitive-motor dual-task and motor imagery ability are unrelated because of abundant repetition of the cognitive-motor dual task in the nature of daily living activities.