Article

Mirror therapy (MT) was found to improve motor function after stroke,
but its neural mechanisms remain unclear, especially in single stroke patients.
The following imaging study was designed to compare brain activation
patterns evoked by the mirror illusion in single stroke patients with normal
subjects. METHODS: Fifteen normal volunteers and five stroke patients with severe
arm paresis were recruited. Cerebral activations during movement mirroring by
means of a video chain were recorded with functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI). Single-subject analysis was performed using SPM 8. RESULTS: For normal
subjects, ten and thirteen subjects displayed lateralized cerebral activations
evoked by the mirror illusion while moving their right and left hand
respectively. The magnitude of this effect in the precuneus contralateral to the
seen hand was not dependent on movement speed or subjective experience. Negative
correlation of activation strength with age was found for the right hand only.
The activation pattern in stroke patients is comparable to that of normal
subjects and present in four out of five patients. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the
mirror illusion can elicit cerebral activation contralateral to the perceived
hand in the majority of single normal subjects, but not in all of them. This is
similar even in stroke patients with severe hemiparesis.

Langue : ANGLAIS