Effects of motor imagery on walking function and balance in patients after stroke: A quantitative synthesis of randomized controlled trials

Li, Rong Qing; Li, Zhuang Miao; Tan, Jing‐Yu; Chen, Gu Lan; Lin, Wen Yu

doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2017.05.009

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This is important for us because the hypothesis tested in our long-term research plan is that cognitive rehabilitation should include mental motor training to reduce gait instability and the ensuing risk of falls in orthopaedic patients. Such trainings based on motor imagery have already been shown to be successful in neurological patients ( Tong et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A functional limitation to the lower limbs affects the neural bases of motor imagery of gait

Sacheli

Zapparoli

Preti

et al. 2018

NeuroImage: Clinical

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Studies on athletes or neurological patients with motor disorders have shown a close link between motor experience and motor imagery skills. Here we evaluated whether a functional limitation due to a musculoskeletal disorder has an impact on the ability to mentally rehearse the motor patterns of walking, an overlearned and highly automatic behaviour. We assessed the behavioural performance (measured through mental chronometry tasks) and the neural signatures of motor imagery of gait in patients with chronic knee arthrosis and in age-matched, healthy controls. During fMRI, participants observed (i) stationary or (ii) moving videos of a path in a park shown in the first-person perspective: they were asked to imagine themselves (i) standing on or (ii) walking along the path, as if the camera were “their own eyes” (gait imagery (GI) task). In half of the trials, participants performed a dynamic gait imagery (DGI) task by combining foot movements with GI. Behavioural tests revealed a lower degree of isochrony between imagined and performed walking in the patients, indicating impairment in the ability to mentally rehearse gait motor patterns. Moreover, fMRI showed widespread hypoactivation during GI in motor planning (premotor and parietal) brain regions, the brainstem, and the cerebellum. Crucially, the performance of DGI had a modulatory effect on the patients and enhanced activation of the posterior parietal, brainstem, and cerebellar regions that the healthy controls recruited during the GI task. These findings show that functional limitations of peripheral origin may impact on gait motor representations, providing a rationale for cognitive rehabilitation protocols in patients with gait disorders of orthopaedic nature. The DGI task may be a suitable tool in this respect.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A functional limitation to the lower limbs affects the neural bases of motor imagery of gait

Sacheli

Zapparoli

Preti

et al. 2018

NeuroImage: Clinical

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Motor imagery (MI)-i.e., the mental representation of a physical action without overt body movement [11]-is effective in improving motor performance [12,13]. MI exerts beneficial effects on strength [13] and flexibility [14] in healthy adults; it reduces pain [15,16]; and it contributes to the rehabilitation of Parkinson's disease and stroke patients [17,18], though its effects on musculoskeletal patients are equivocal [19]. A recent metaanalysis showed that, when added to routine physical therapy (RPT) in post-injury rehabilitation, MI does not elicit greater benefits on functional mobility, perceived pain, and self-efficiency than RPT alone [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home-based motor imagery intervention improves functional performance following total knee arthroplasty in the short term: a randomized controlled trial

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Motor imagery (MI) is effective in improving motor performance in the healthy asymptomatic adult population. However, its possible effects among older orthopaedic patients are still poorly investigated. Therefore, this study explored whether the addition of motor imagery to routine physical therapy reduces the deterioration of quadriceps muscle strength and voluntary activation (VA) as well as other variables related to motor performance in patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods Twenty-six patients scheduled for TKA were randomized to either MI practice combined with routine physical therapy group (MIp) or to a control group receiving physical therapy alone (CON). MIp consisted of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MViC) task: 15 min/day in the hospital, then 5 times/week in their homes for 4 weeks. MViC and VA of quadriceps muscle, knee flexion and extension range of motion, pain level, along with a Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUG) and self-reported measure of physical function (assessed using the Oxford Knee Score questionnaire [OKS]) were evaluated before (PRE) and 1 month after surgery (POST). Results Significantly better rehabilitation outcomes were evident on the operated leg for the MIp group compared to CON: at POST, the MIp showed lower strength decrease (p = 0.012, η2= 0.237) and unaltered VA, significantly greater than CON (p = 0.014, η2= 0.227). There were no significant differences in knee flexion and extension range of motion and pain level (p > 0.05). Further, MIp patients performed better in TUG (p < 0.001, η2= 0.471) and reported better OKS scores (p = 0.005, η2= 0.280). The non-operated leg showed no significant differences in any outcomes at POST (all p > 0.05). In addition, multiple linear regression analysis showed that failure of voluntary activation explained 47% of the quadriceps muscle strength loss, with no significant difference in perceived level of pain. Conclusion MI practice, when added to physical therapy, improves both objective and subjective measures of patients’ physical function after TKA, and facilitates transfer of MI strength task on functional mobility. Trial registration Retrospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.govNCT03684148

show abstract

“…Since impaired locomotion is a frequent and major source of disability in patients with neurological diseases and new techniques are continuously required to improve gait rehabilitation, a better characterization of MI of locomotion in these populations is fundamental. People after stroke seem to retain locomotion MI abilities 36 and mental practice appears to be a beneficial intervention for stroke rehabilitation 37 ; nevertheless the existing evidence remains inconclusive because of significantly statistical heterogeneity and methodological flaws 38 . More contradictory results have been found in patients with PD, mainly due to differences in testing procedures and task instructions 27 , 39 , 40 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial constraints and cognitive fatigue affect motor imagery of walking in people with multiple sclerosis

Podda

Pedullà

Bragadin

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Motor imagery (MI) is the mental simulation of an action without any overt motor execution. Interestingly, a temporal coupling between durations of real and imagined movements, i.e., the so-called isochrony principle, has been demonstrated in healthy adults. On the contrary, anisochrony has frequently been reported in elderly subjects or those with neurological disease such as Parkinson disease or multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we tested whether people with MS (PwMS) may have impaired MI when they imagined themselves walking on paths with different widths. When required to mentally simulate a walking movement along a constrained pathway, PwMS tended to overestimate mental movement duration with respect to actual movement duration. Interestingly, in line with previous evidence, cognitive fatigue was found to play a role in the MI of PwMS. These results suggest that investigating the relationship between cognitive fatigue and MI performances could be key to shedding new light on the motor representation of PwMS and providing critical insights into effective and tailored rehabilitative treatments.

show abstract

Effects of motor imagery on walking function and balance in patients after stroke: A quantitative synthesis of randomized controlled trials

Cited by 37 publications

References 27 publications

A functional limitation to the lower limbs affects the neural bases of motor imagery of gait

A functional limitation to the lower limbs affects the neural bases of motor imagery of gait

Home-based motor imagery intervention improves functional performance following total knee arthroplasty in the short term: a randomized controlled trial

Spatial constraints and cognitive fatigue affect motor imagery of walking in people with multiple sclerosis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About