Article

OBJECTIVE: To assess motor imagery (MI) ability in patients with moderate to
severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Prospective, cohort study. SETTING:
University hospital rehabilitation unit. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with traumatic
brain injury (mean coma duration, 18d) undergoing rehabilitation (n=20) and
healthy controls (n=17) matched for age and education level. INTERVENTIONS: Not
applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The vividness of MI was assessed using a
revised version of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire-Revised second version
(MIQ-RS); the temporal features were assessed using the time-dependent motor
imagery (TDMI) screening test, the temporal congruence test, and a walking
trajectory imagery test; and the accuracy of MI was assessed using a mental
rotation test. RESULTS: The MIQ-RS revealed a decrease of MI vividness in the TBI
group. An increasing number of stepping movements was observed with increasing
time periods in both groups during the TDMI screening test. The TBI group
performed a significantly smaller number of imagery movements in the same
movement time. The temporal congruence test revealed a significant correlation
between imagery and actual stepping time in both groups.
The walking trajectory
test revealed an increase of the imagery and actual walking time with increasing
path length in both groups, but the ratio of imaginary walking over actual
walking time was significantly greater than 1 in the TBI group. Results of the
hand mental rotation test indicated significant effects of rotation angles on
imagery movement times in both groups, but rotation time was significantly slower
in the TBI group. CONCLUSIONS: Our patients with TBI demonstrated a relatively
preserved MI ability indicating that MI could be used to aid rehabilitation and
subsequent functional recovery.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS