Investigation of the relationship between motor imagery ability and executive functions in acute stroke patients

While the cognitive function is at the forefront in addition to the visual, auditory and proprioceptive inputs from the environment in the emergence of a real movement, the task of executive functions such as planning, initiating the process and attention increases in the process of visualizing the movement. However, until now, the relationship between motor imagery (MI) ability and executive functions has not been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between MI ability and executive functions in acute stroke patients. The temporal feature of MI is measured by mental chronometry tests, and the convenience feature is measured by self-report scales. However, since there is no valid and reliable self-report scale for the evaluation of the convenience parameter of MI in acute stroke patients, the first step was the adaptation of the Movement Imagination Questionnaire-Second Version (HIA-IV), which consists of two sub-dimensions, kinesthetic and visual, into Turkish, and validity and its reliability was investigated. 56 acute stroke patients aged between 50-75 and 50 healthy individuals were included in the study. Quality of life was evaluated with the Barthel Index (BI), mental chronometry with the 10- meter walking test, motor functions with the Motor Rating Scale (MDI), trunk verticality with the Trunk Impairment Scale, and executive functions with the Trace Making Test (IST). The HIA-IV questionnaire was repeated twice, on the 3rd and 7th day after stroke, for test-retest reliability. It was found that the visual imagery sub-dimension of the questionnaire was medium, the kinesthetic imagery sub-dimension and the overall questionnaire had good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.669; 0.797; 0.785, respectively). The internal consistency of the questionnaire was found to be good for the visual and kinesthetic imagery sub-dimensions, and excellent for the overall questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha coefficients: 0.835; 0.831; 0.902, respectively). Intermediate (rho= 0.32, p<0.05) with BI used to examine the convergent validity of the HIA-IV questionnaire; Weak- moderate (rho= -0.28 p<0.05) by Mental Chronometry Score; While there was a weak-moderate (rho= 0.31, p<0.05) relationship with MDS, no significant correlation was found with trunk verticality (rho=0.02, p>0.05). It was determined that there was a difference between the total HIA-IV scores in the healthy control group and the stroke patient group (p=0.001), and the questionnaire had known group validity. While there was a moderate correlation (rho= -0.40, p=0.002) between IST and the total score of HIA-IV, no correlation was found with the Mental Chronometry score (rho= -0.173, p=0.203). The Turkish version of the . is a reliable and valid measurement tool that can be used to evaluate MI ability in acute stroke patients. MI and cognition are functions that should not be considered separately. Keywords: Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Second Version, acute stroke, reliability and validity, motor imagery, executive functions