TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rodrigues, Johannes
A1  - Marzban, Dorna
A1  - Hewig, Johannes
T1  - The influence of mental imagery expertise of pen and paper players versus computer gamers upon performance and electrocortical correlates in a difficult mental rotation task
JF  - Symmetry
N2  - We investigated the influence of mental imagery expertise in 15 pen and paper role-players as an expert group compared to the gender-matched control group of computer role-players in the difficult Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotation task. In this task, the participants have to decide which two of four rotated figures match the target figure. The dependent measures were performance speed and accuracy. In our exploratory investigation, we further examined midline frontal theta band activation, parietal alpha band activation, and parietal alpha band asymmetry in EEG as indicator for the chosen rotation strategy. Additionally, we explored the gender influence on performance and EEG activation, although a very small female sample section was given. The expected gender difference concerning performance accuracy was negated by expertise in pen and paper role-playing women, while the gender-specific difference in performance speed was preserved. Moreover, gender differences concerning electro-cortical measures revealed differences in rotation strategy, with women using top-down strategies compared to men, who were using top-down strategies and active inhibition of associative cortical areas. These strategy uses were further moderated by expertise, with higher expertise leading to more pronounced activation patters, especially during successful performance. However, due to the very limited sample size, the findings of this explorative study have to be interpreted cautiously.
KW  - mental rotation
KW  - expertise in visual imagery
KW  - pen and paper vs. computer role-players
KW  - midline frontal theta band frequency activation
KW  - parietal alpha band frequency activation
KW  - gender influence
KW  - EEG
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-252253
SN  - 2073-8994
VL  - 13
IS  - 12
ER  -