Abstract

Activity changes were studied on electrodermal activity, heart rate, respiratory rate, and the soleus H-reflex during a mental rehearsal of 500 m speed skate sprint. Subjects were 10 speed skaters (18-23 yrs) who had been fully trained by an image training program which included the same mental rehearsal. They were all highly motivated before each experiment. The mental rehearsal was started by a signal gun recorded by a tape recorder, after a rest period (5 min), relaxation ( 4 min) and a control of emotion (2.5 min). Skin resistance of subjects decreased largely during the mental rehearsal of the skating compared with that during relaxation, and increased gradually after completion of rehearsal. The relative values of the decrease in all subjects were 25 to 92 (mean of 65, p<0.01). Heart rate began to increase prior to the rehearsal of the start, and indicated peak values during rehearsal. The relative values of the increase were 14 to 40 (mean of 24, p<0.05). Respiratory rates also increased obviously during rehearsal. The relative values of the increase were 14 to 66 (mean of 43). The patterns of change of the soleus H-reflex during the mental rehearsal were classified to 3 groups: a) a group which did not indicate significant change (4/10), b) a group indicated significant decrease of the H-reflex amplitude (4/10), c) a group indicated significant increase of the H-reflex amplitude (2/10). Results suggested that the sympathetic nerve was activated in all subjects with individual variation. Verf.-Referat (gekuerzt)