Walking motor imagery ability is thought to be associated with a fear of falling; however, no studies have compared fall risk and motor imagery ability. This study aimed to ascertain the time difference between imagined and physical walking in older adults at low and high risks of falling. Motor imagery ability was assessed using mental chronometry, which measures the imagined time required for movement. Participants included 31 older adults classified as having a high (n = 15) or low (n = 16) risk of falling based on single leg stance time. The time required for imagined and physical walking was measured using 5 m long walkways with three different widths (15, 25, and 50 cm), and the temporal errors (absolute and constant error) were compared. Physical walking time was significantly longer in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group for the 15 and 25 cm wide walkways. The absolute error between the imagined and physical walking times was significantly larger in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group for the 15 and 25 cm wide walkways. There was also a significant difference in the constant error between the high- and low-risk groups between the imagined and physical walking times for all three walkways. Older adults who may be at a higher risk of falling showed longer walking times during action execution but overestimated their performance (i.e., they believe they would be faster) during motor imagery. Therefore, the time difference between imagined and physical walking could, in part, be useful as a tool for assessing fall risk based on motor imagery.

中文翻译：

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老年人在有高跌倒危险的情况下，想象的行走与身体行走之间的时间差增加。

行走的运动成像能力被认为与跌倒有关。然而，尚无研究比较跌倒风险和运动成像能力。这项研究旨在确定在跌倒风险高和低的老年人中，想象的行走与身体行走之间的时间差。使用心理测时法评估运动成像能力，该测时法可测量运动所需的想象时间。参加者包括31位被归类为高（n = 15）或低（n= 16）基于单腿站立时间的跌倒风险。使用5 m长的人行道（具有三种不同的宽度（15、25和50 cm））测量了想象中的步行和身体步行所需的时间，并比较了时间误差（绝对误差和恒定误差）。对于15和25厘米宽的人行道，高风险组的身体步行时间明显比低风险组的更长。对于15和25厘米宽的人行道，高风险组的想象行走时间与身体行走时间之间的绝对误差明显大于低风险组。高风险组和低风险组之间在所有三个人行道的想象行走时间和实际行走时间之间的恒定误差也存在显着差异。在动作执行过程中，较高的跌倒风险可能会导致较长的步行时间，但在运动成像过程中过高地估计了他们的表现（即，他们认为会更快）。因此，想象中的行走与身体行走之间的时间差部分可用作基于运动图像评估跌倒风险的工具。