C oaches frequently advise athletes to practice their skills, responses and reactions by "picturing" themselves in play performing them perfectly. Now, a startling new study of brain scans has revealed why. It turns out that thinking about or preparing for how you would respond to simple spatial stimuli (a tennis ball lobbed to your weaker left side) and how you actually do respond activate the same areas of the brain.

Three parts of the brain engage to respond to spatial stimuli and pre-task planning -- the area that pays attention to (or receives) the stimuli (superior parietal cortex)... the area that plans possible movements in reaction (dorsal premotor cortex)... and the area that makes decisions on what action to take (dorsal prefrontal cortex). In the past, scientists had thought that these areas activated individually in response to cues and then to decision-making. Much to their surprise, they discovered that as soon as study participants began to prepare for a task, all three areas activated.

Eric Schumacher, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, led the study with colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Berkeley. He told me that the simultaneous brain activity is best seen in simple situations with just a few possible responses, such as approaching a traffic light that might change. He explains that the brain doesn't wait to see what the light will do but starts preparing for several possible actions (accelerate, slow down, stop) ahead of time, which gives you the ability to respond faster when the cue occurs.

VISUALIZATION FOR THE HARD STUFF

I wondered if this might explain the effectiveness of using visualization as a tool in general, including as an approach to life's more complex situations, such as a confrontation with a difficult person. Dr. Schumacher agrees that the study finding could be applied to some degree to sports visualization, since that involves the motor area of the brain, but he demurs when it comes to the more complicated nature of personal interactions. For those, the anticipated choices include verbalization, attitudes and other complex processes that go beyond this study's findings. However, Dr. Schumacher is now working with a team investigating how the brain does respond to more complex demands, so we should know more soon. No need to wait for those results, however. It certainly can't hurt to "picture" yourself succeeding at a task, no matter whether it is a simple physical one or a more complex matter involving other processes. Seeing it happen in your mind is a step toward making it happen in the real world.