Article

Extended viewing of movements of the intact hand in a mirror as well as motor
imagery has been shown to decrease pain in phantom pain patients. We used
functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the neural correlates of
mirrored, imagined and executed hand movements in 14 upper extremity amputees - 7
with phantom limb pain (PLP) and 7 without phantom limb pain (non-PLP) and 9
healthy controls (HC). Executed movement activated the contralateral sensorimotor
area in all three groups but ipsilateral cortex was only activated in the non-PLP
and HC group. Mirrored movements activated the sensorimotor cortex contralateral
to the hand seen in the mirror in the non-PLP and the HC but not in the PLP.
Imagined movement activated the supplementary motor area in all groups and the
contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex in the non-PLP and HC but not in the
PLP. Mirror- and movement-related activation in the bilateral sensorimotor cortex
in the mirror movement condition and activation in the sensorimotor cortex
ipsilateral to the moved hand in the executed movement condition were
significantly negatively correlated with the magnitude of phantom limb pain in
the amputee group. Further research must identify the causal mechanisms related
to mirror treatment, imagined movements or movements of the other hand and
associated changes in pain perception.
CI - Copyright 2010 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS