Mental Practice With Motor Imagery: Evidence for Motor Recovery and Cortical Reorganization After Stroke

Abstract

Objectives-To measure the efficacy of a program combining mental and physical practice with the efficacy of a program composed of only constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) or only mental practice on stroke patients' levels of upper-extremity impairment and upper-extremity functional outcomes and to establish the relationship between changes in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging response during a specific motor or imagery task and improvement in motor function between intervention groups. Design-Case series.Setting-Licensed, 56-bed, freestanding, university-affiliated rehabilitation hospital.Participants-Three men and 1 woman with moderate upper-limb hemiparesis after stroke were randomized.

Clinical Assessment of Mental Rotation in Hemiplegic Patients after Stroke

“…In rehabilitation-related research, some studies have reported that physical function is improved by mental practice in stroke patients [2][3][4][5][6]19) ; however, our results showed that impaired motor imagery ability in the CVA group, suggesting that a strategy for therapeutic intervention with motor imagery is expected to have a high therapeutic effect because of the impaired attention of stroke patients. In the present study, the number of participants was too few to test reliability.…”

“…In humans, this type of injury strongly correlates with paralysis, sensory deficits, impairments in learning and memory, and disability in activities of daily living [ADL]; however, there are few effective therapies for the treatment of ischemic stroke 1) . Recent evidence suggests that the use of motor imagery training, as an additional therapy, has an effect on motor recovery after stroke [2][3][4][5][6] .…”

Using a motor imagery questionnaire to estimate the performance of a Brain–Computer Interface based on object oriented motor imagery

“…A MI has therefore been widely used for training purposes, with sportsmen and musicians [Hall et al 1998, Hall 2001, Langheim et al 2002, Lotze and Halsbrand 2006, Guillot et al 2010a, and in the rehabilitation of patients who cannot perform active movements following stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI) or chronic intractable pain [Moseley 2004, Butler and Page 2006, Mulder 2007, Page et al 2009, Grangeon et al 2010, Malouin 2010. In these studies patients were verbally guided to imagine some functional, object oriented task for which they could not produce a satisfactory overt movement, such as reaching or grasping an object.…”

“…In these studies patients were verbally guided to imagine some functional, object oriented task for which they could not produce a satisfactory overt movement, such as reaching or grasping an object. Patients achieved decreased reaching time, enhanced smoothness of a hand trajectory of their overt movements [Grangeon et al 2010], increased Fugl-Meyer score and results of the Action Research Arm (ARA) test [Page et al 2006] .…”

“…Injuries to the CNS may influence execution of both covert and overt movements , Maulouin and Richards 2010, Butler and Page 2006 that are accompanied with changes in the ERS/ERD response [Pfurtscheller et al 1980, Enzinger et al 2008, Silvoni et al 2011.…”