The effects of action observation and motor imagery on students' ability to identify anatomical locations: a randomised control trial

Purpose: Action observation (AO) and motor imagery (MI) are two forms of mental practice that can facilitate motor learning. We investigated if mental practice techniques (AO vs. combined AO+MI) can improve entry-level healthcare students' ability to locate anatomical structures in the immediate and short-term. Materials and methods: Within a randomised control trial design, participants received a traditional anatomy lecture (Control, n = 13), or lecture plus AO (n = 13), or lecture plus combined AO+MI (n = 12). Mental practice involved either watching a physiotherapist's demonstration of (AO), or watching and imagining the feeling of (AO+MI) locating upper-limb anatomical points on a human model. Post intervention, participants located these points on a human model, assessed by diagnostic ultrasound, immediately and at one-week follow-up. Results: Immediately post, accuracy was greater for AO+MI (M = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.6-2.4) and AO (M = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.7-2.6), than Control (M = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.0-1.8; ps < 0.05). At the follow-up, AO+MI (M = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.8-2.7) was significantly more accurate than AO (M = 1.30, 95% CI = 0.8-1.8; p < 0.01). Conclusions: While mental practice groups out-performed the Control immediately post, only the AO+MI group retained this advantage. Educators should therefore consider augmenting traditional anatomy lectures with mental practice as a low-cost resource for enhancing learning.