Fig. 1.

A: setup for assessing wrist flexion strength, voluntary activation (VA), and the cortical silent period (SP). TMS, transcranial magnetic stimulation; EMG, electromyogram. B: immobilization (open circles; n = 15) resulted in a 45% reduction in strength. Mental imagery training (open triangles; n = 14), however, attenuated the loss of muscle strength by ∼50% (strength loss of 24%). No changes were observed in the control group (solid circles; n = 15). Values are means ± SE. Significant differences vs. *baseline, **baseline and recovery, §control group value.