Visualization

Science-Based Mental Training & Visualization for Improved Learning | Huberman Lab Podcast - Andrew Huberman

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• Mental training and visualization is a powerful process that has been shown to improve our ability to learn anything.
• Mental training and visualization relies on neuroplasticity.
  • Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change in response to experience.
  • The two main forms of neuroplasticity are long-term potentiation and long-term depression.
    • Long-term potentiation is the strengthening of connections between neurons.
    • Long-term depression is the weakening of connections between neurons.
• Mental training and visualization can be used to enhance our ability to learn both cognitively and physically.
• Mental training and visualization should be brief, simple, and repeated over and over.
• People who have difficulty with mental visualization can still benefit from mental training and visualization.
• Mental training and visualization can be used to improve performance in a variety of domains, including sports, music, and dance.
• Mental training and visualization is not a replacement for real-world motor training or cognitive training, but it can be an effective augment.
• You need to be able to perform the thing that you're trying to get better at through visualization and imagery in the real world.
• Real-world training is more effective than mental training, and mental training is more effective than no training.
• The ratio of real-world training to mental training that's most effective is 3:1.
• Mental training can be used to maintain or replenish motor skills in people who are injured or unable to perform a given behavior.
• Mental training and visualization is a powerful tool that can be used to improve motor skills and cognitive abilities.
• Mental training is more effective than no training, and physical training is more effective than mental training.
• However, combining mental training with physical training can produce results that are greater than either one alone.
• The ideal mental training protocol involves brief, repeated practice of a specific skill or sequence of movements.
• Mental training can be done with eyes open or closed, but studies have shown that watching videos of yourself performing a task can be more effective than simply imagining yourself doing it.
• Mental training can also be used to improve no-go aspects of motor learning, such as learning to withhold inappropriate movements or utterances.
• The stop signal task is a laboratory task that can be used to measure the ability to withhold action.
• A recent study found that combining mental training with physical training improved performance on the stop signal task more than either one alone.
• Mental training and visualization is a very effective way to improve real-world performance.
• The key components of an effective mental training and visualization practice include: - Brief epochs (15-20 seconds) - Repeats of specific sequences of motor and/or cognitive behavior - Relatively simple sequences that you can imagine even if you're not good at mental training and visualization - Being able to actually execute specific movements and cognitive tasks in the real world - Naming things - Creating parallels between real-world training and mental training and visualization
• If you can't do real-world training due to injury or other conditions, using mental training is a reasonable substitute.
• If you can't do either real-world training or mental training, mental training is better than no training at all.
• For withholding action in order to get better at a skill, a combination of physical training and mental training is going to be the best.
• If you're trying to learn a new skill and you're having challenges with performing that skill because of an inability to do the skill in the first place or on a consistent basis, then on an hour-by-hour basis you're best off investing your time into the physical training only incorporating mental training and visualization if you are able to do that on top of the maximum amount of real-world training that you're capable of doing.

• Principles:

  • 1. Keep visualization between 15 and 20 second and simple not including many details and repeated over and over
    • Example:
      • If a tennis serve take you 5 sec
      • Visualize it 3 times
      • Rest 15 sec
      • Repeat 15 times
    • 3 to 5 times per week if you train 2 times for week
  • 1. Visualization is not replace for real thing
  • 1. Combine real training with visualization
  • 1. Add labels from real world parts to visualize
  • 1. The time/dimensions on visualization and real world is equivalent