Pitching-specific facilitation of upper-limb corticospinal excitability during motor imagery of sports motor skills.

ABSTRACT: Pitching is an essential skill in baseball, requiring precise and well-coordinated neural control. However, elucidating its underlying neural mechanisms remains challenging because of the methodological difficulties in assessing neural activity during dynamic movement. Motor imagery (MI) provides a potential approach for investigating neural control in pitching, as MI of basic movements activates neural processes similar to those during actual movement. This study examined how MI of pitching, with and without visual guidance, modulates corticospinal excitability in muscles involved in pitching. Electromyographic activity was recorded from the flexor carpi radialis (FCR), extensor carpi radialis, first dorsal interosseous, and abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscles. Corticospinal excitabili

SUBMITTER: Yamasaki D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12819569 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature