Jianing Liu, Zhuorui Jiang, Chenglin Zhou, Wenzi Wang
Sport-specific motor imagery in freestyle skiing aerials athletes may constitute a complex internal simulation process in which athletes use in-run and take-off cues to predict, organize and refine subsequent aerial actions. Fz-F4 and Fz-P4 theta coherence and alpha-band coherence showed condition-related differences at the sensor level, but these findings should be viewed as preliminary EEG coherence signatures rather than established neural markers of imagery quality or successful sport-specific judgment.
OBJECTIVE: This study characterized EEG coherence during sport-specific motor imagery in elite freestyle skiing aerials athletes and sought to identify coordinated neural oscillatory dynamics that may support the internal simulation of complex aerial actions.
METHODS: Fourteen athletes from the Chinese national freestyle skiing aerials training team completed a sport-specific motor imagery task. The task combined high- and low-difficulty action cues with matched or mismatched in-run videos. EEG activity was recorded during the imagery phase. Using Fz as the seed electrode, coherence between Fz and representative electrodes over frontal, central, temporal, parietal and occipital regions was analyzed in the theta, low-alpha and high-alpha bands. Behavioral performance and subjective imagery ratings were also examined.
RESULTS: Behaviorally, high- and low-difficulty actions did not differ significantly in matching-judgment accuracy or imagery completion time. At the EEG level, high-difficulty imagery elicited stronger theta-band coherence over right-hemisphere connections. Correct judgments were associated with higher high-alpha coherence and with marked increases in theta coherence over the right frontal Fz-F4 and right parietal Fz-P4 connections. Exploratory correlation analyses showed that, during high-difficulty imagery, Fz-F4 theta coherence was negatively correlated with the self-developed imagery self-rating total score.
CONCLUSION: Sport-specific motor imagery in freestyle skiing aerials athletes may constitute a complex internal simulation process in which athletes use in-run and take-off cues to predict, organize and refine subsequent aerial actions. Fz-F4 and Fz-P4 theta coherence and alpha-band coherence showed condition-related differences at the sensor level, but these findings should be viewed as preliminary EEG coherence signatures rather than established neural markers of imagery quality or successful sport-specific judgment.