Just to put a little focus on this topic, imagery and watching something being performed are not one in the same as what neuroplasticity is.
Neuroplasticity implies that the ‘use it or lose it’ concept of axial connection and neural pathway development is not as limited as we once thought and can continue well into adult life. It is still rather young but super exciting topic amongst neuroscientists.
I think it’s definition is being muddied here a little so we should understand it properly.
From medicine.net, this is a fairly simple and good definition.
‘The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.’
In other words, in the initial OP’s post and what he watched, neuroplasticity is referring to parts of the brain taking over the duty of other parts of the brain which have been damaged through forming new axial connections and neural pathways.
The almost infinite ability for children to develop neural pathways comes from large amounts of exposure to physical activity, not mental activity. In other words, kids get smarter and develop more neural pathways through play at an early age rather than through mental activity.
Ones who watch sport being played will never develop anywhere near the ability of those who actually perform the sports.
This also applies to the above where someone suggested watching something can help improve performance in that thing.
Kinda against what neuroplasticity stands for.
I would not give kata that much credit at all as many physiological needs are not met during kata to have as much significant transfer effect over to full speed dynamic movement during fighting. However, I would merit it’s ability to ‘etch’ neural pathways for movement. Will it make you a spartan warrior? I think not! Can it help lube or prime neural pathways for movement? I believe so.
Dr Susan Greenfield is a pioneer in the area of neuroplasticity and she speaks well of the damaging effects, tv’s, computers and social media have on the development of children to teens through to adulthood. Basically her premise is that these mediums have detrimental effects on mental health and social well being and in no way can compare with people who actually go out there and do things as opposed to watching things or can’t compare with people who socialise in person with others rather than socialising through facebook or twitter etc.
So visualise as much as you want, it may improve your confidence and bravado. It may help calm you down, causing you to stress less, in turn causing less negative physiological states which allows you to perform your movements more effectively but in and of themselves, I still doubt that mere imagery actually improves the performance of a movement. Rather I believe it helps other associated factors which help the movement to be performed.
So whilst visualising may ‘slowly’ improve ones ability to perform a movement, it is much like socialising through a computer medium may improve your social skills ever so slightly but does not carry anywhere near the weight that socialising in person carries, ie no visual, sensual cues, no physiological/biochemical stressors and reactions in the same way that being in front of someone can have.
This is not unlike a fighter developing awesome skills on a bag and pad work and another developing those same skills through actual drills with a partner and then both of those not comparing to someone developing those skills through actual sparring and fighting.
To perform something or in our case movement, sure you can develop slightly through imagery and visualisation but immersing yourself in the environment along with all the associated stressors that go with it will have much more of a significant effect on development of that thing/movement.
From wiki on neuroplasticity and exercise:
[i]In a 2009 study, scientists made two groups of mice swim a water maze, and then in a separate trial subjected them to an unpleasant stimulus to see how quickly they would learn to move away from it. Then, over the next four weeks they allowed one group of mice to run inside their rodent wheels, an activity most mice enjoy, while they forced the other group to work harder on minitreadmills at a speed and duration controlled by the scientists. They then tested both groups again to track their learning skills and memory. Both groups of mice improved their performances in the water maze from the earlier trial. But only the extra-worked treadmill runners were better in the avoidance task, a skill that, according to neuroscientists, demands a more complicated cognitive response.[39]
The mice who were forced to run on the treadmills showed evidence of molecular changes in several portions of their brains when viewed under a microscope, while the voluntary wheel-runners had changes in only one area. â??Our results support the notion that different forms of exercise induce neuroplasticity changes in different brain regions,â?? Chauying J. Jen, a professor of physiology and an author of the study, said. [/i]
Again, the closing sentence from medicine.net is a simple but effective explanation of neuroplasticity:
‘For neurons to form beneficial connections, they must be correctly stimulated.’
The keywords being ‘beneficial connections’ and ‘correctly stimulated’.
Sorry to be a quote whore.