Physical therapist Amit Abraham works with Israel’s Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team, dancers  and Parkinson’s patients to use the mind to enhance physical performance.

Most of us can conjure up a vivid mental image of our favorite food. Just thinking about it can make our mouths water.

Israeli physical therapist Amit Abraham heads a lab at Ariel University that’s translating this phenomenon into innovative training protocols to enhance dancers’ and gymnasts’ performance and improve rehab results for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Over the past year, he worked with Israel’s Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team, which finished the Tokyo Games in sixth place.

“Mental imagery by itself has been extensively used and researched. Even ancient Egypt used mental imagery,” Abraham tells ISRAEL21c.

“Our lab is one of very few in the world studying the neurocognitive aspects and integrating it into training and rehabilitation. Some of the things we are doing in this field for the very first time internationally.”

Following his postdoc research at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta with movement scientist Madeleine Hackney, Abraham returned to Israel in 2020 and established the Mental Imagery & Human Embodied Potential Lab in Ariel University’s Department of Physical Therapy.

Not child’s play

The lab’s goal is to provide scientific evidence for the motor and cognitive benefits of creating experiences in the mind.

“We do group and one-on-one sessions in a specific process of bringing to life the mind-body connection,” he explains.

“A lot of athletes visualize before competing. But they are not trained in how to use this efficiently as a tool to its fullest potential. That is my goal.”

In his initial session, he often needs to overcome participants’ hesitancy. “People think mental imagery is childish and feel embarrassed to use it, especially in a group setting,” Abraham says.

“So we start from scratch by explaining how to use it, what are its possibilities and limitations, the science behind it, and how to address lack of belief in it. Once people get excited about it, they can step out of their comfort zone and then it’s easier.”